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Reagan...
(lemmy.world)
Don't forget the war on drugs
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this post was submitted on 20 Mar 2025
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His administration was when the republicans really started running with the idea of fucking with people's minds. "Morning in America" turned a shitload of former Democrats into republican voters who voted themselves and their children into a shithole they'd never get out of.
See also; "The Southern Strategy"
Yeah, maybe. I mean, the republicans at this time did start to resonate with the public, but I think it had more to do with the times and with Reagan himself.
Reagan was much more likeable than the likes of Goldwater, Buckley, or any other figure at the time. And he was attractive to the evangelicals, which became a whole new arm (with issues) of the party.
Also, of course, the economy of the 70s was just right for a party that could lean into hate, fear, & greed.
Reagan, though. He could sell all of it in a way that few others would have been able to pull off. I remember wondering at the time how he could draw so many in. People just liked him, horrible as he was.
Oh there's no maybe about it. Reagan - "an actor?!" was the perfect foil for photo ops and propaganda. His lickspittle Michael Deaver created them such that as wikipedia says,
Which was a quantum leap from the flashbulb-handshake photo ops of the earlier presidents.
He coincided with Mtv, cable television, and the nascent seedlings of Fox News. Every demented rapist presser where Orange Julius presents stacks of binders filled with blank paper is drawn from the work Deaver did with Reagan.
Also remember that while Reagan had more public office experience than the demented rapist, he wasn't trained on anything - he wasn't a lawyer, didn't study foreign policy, wasn't in the military - he was an actor. And so while he was a conservative at heart most of the ridiculous idiocies were pitched to him and pending any kind of ok were run by evil toadies, just as it is today.
So yeah, he was probably nice enough as a neighbor or something, but as a President he created huge waves of evil we're still getting hit with today. (And which were called out at the time, btw.)