Rasmussen: Romney May Be the End of the Line for the Republican Establishment

[Drunken Irishman]

24. Bingo.

You said it perfectly. Reagan masked his deficiencies by being extremely likable and charismatic. The same, really, applies to Bill Clinton, who was also able to bounce back from pitfalls because Americans loved him. No Republican has been able to tap into that Reagan love since ... even though they've tried. Bush was a 50+1 president and was only able to expand beyond that in the wake of 9/11 ... but even that got him, in 2004, pretty much 50+1 against Kerry!

No one likes Reaganomics. No one. I haven't found one person, outside the fanatic right, who says, "oh yeah ... that was a good idea!". It's why Democrats like Bill Clinton and Barack Obama can run against it, attack it, and score points for it. The problem is that Republicans today are still pushing it ... but they can't sell it because they're not Reagan. Americans don't like it.

So, they're pushing the failed Reagan policies no one likes without the thing that got 'em pushed in the first place - a charismatic president who people liked. He was like the old family member everyone loved ... even when he screwed up. THEY EVEN CALLED HIM UNCLE RONNIE!

"Aww, Uncle Ronnie got drunk, pulled down his pants and showed the whole family his pecker ... isn't he a hoot?"

But when Mitt Romney does the same thing, no one finds it cute.