Ronald Reagan Did Not Lose Tuesday

Conn Carroll /

The Politico is famous for its fact free political analysis. Glenn Thrush continues this tradition today in an article purporting to identify the biggest losers from Tuesday’s election. Thrush writes:

John McCain invoked the Great Communicator as his idol — and many in the GOP believe a return to Reagan-era conservative populism provides a path back to relevancy. (His visage still adorns the National Republican Congressional Committee’s home page.) But Democrats claim the economic crisis has called into question central tenets of The Gipper’s fiscal philosophy, including wide-ranging tax cuts, supply-side economics and deregulation.

Is Thrush completely ignorant about John McCain? Did he follow this election at all?

Big government, national greatness, George Bush/Teddy Roosevelt style conservatism lost Tuesday. Even before the massive spending increase in 2008, non-defense spending already grew 3.74% under President Bush. Compare that to 1.01% under President Reagan. There simply was no limited government Reagan style conservative for Americans to vote for in yesterday’s election. The Politico needs to get its facts straight.