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?
- In his July 17th editorial board meeting, John McCain told The New York Times, “I count myself as a conservative Republican, yet I view it to a large degree in the Theodore Roosevelt mold.”
- Defending the Wall Street bailout on This Week in September John McCain compared himself to Teddy Roosevelt four times. He didn’t mention Reagan at all.
- During the second presidential debate he told a Townhall participant, “You know, my hero is a guy named Teddy Roosevelt.” McCain did not mention Reagan once.
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.