Dan Walters, the dean of Sacramento political reporters, puts Reagan in the California context:
Reagan is gone but, perhaps fittingly, California’s new governor is a spiritual clone, another immigrant who sought his fortune in Hollywood, who ousted an incumbent Democratic governor with a color in his name (Gray instead of Brown) on the promise to clean up the mess in Sacramento, whose political skills are sometimes underestimated, and who out-Reagans Reagan in exuding can-do optimism.
Like Reagan, Arnie is a conservative who’s socially tolerant, and that’s the direction the Republican Party needs to take now and in the future. Let’s not forget that under Reagan’s watch in Sacramento, abortion was legalized (in cases of rape, incest, or health of the mother) and no-fault divorce was passed. Tom DeLay, are you listening?
a south park republican
Uh huh, the very prototype.
Well, that’s the problem, isn’t it? The religious fundamentalists who’ve hijacked the Republican Party aren’t listening. And it may cost them my vote.