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Liberals Politicizing Politicization To Their Political Advantage

By Matt Margolis | June 16, 2004

It’s funny sometimes the way the left react to the events of the day. From the first report of Reagan’s failing health to his death and his funeral, they were jumping on the “Bush and the Republicans are going to politicize this” bandwagon.

Just about any accusation or conspiracy theory imaginable was concocted by the left regarding Reagan’s death and the possible political impact it could have for Bush. Some liberals said it would unjustly and untimely help Bush. Some of them convinced themselves it would hurt Bush – because “Bush is no Reagan” and conservatives would ultimately compare the two and find themselves liking Bush less (or something like that) of course, they’d then proceed to demonize Reagan…so who knows what they were thinking.

Simultaneously, the left preemptively accused Bush of politicizing Reagan’s death, demonized Reagan as too conservative and destructive, and then hope to demonize Bush to conservatives by making their own comparisons between the two.

So much for not politicizing Reagan’s death, right?

I was beyond amused today when I read that the Club For Growth received criticism from the Reagan Family for an anti-Kerry ad they put out using President Reagan’s image.

Ronald Reagan’s family is criticizing the use of the late president’s image in a conservative political ad endorsing President George W. Bush.
…
The ad comparing Bush’s war on terror with Reagan’s battle against communism is being run by the conservative interest group Club for Growth starting Wednesday. It shows footage of Reagan at the Berlin Wall, and Bush at ground zero.

The ad also said Democratic presidential contender John Kerry was “wrong then, wrong now” on national security.

Before I had the opportunity to check out the liberal reaction to this, Stephen Moore, President of the Club For Growth had come out with the following statement:

“I just concluded a very pleasant conversation with Ms. Joanne Drake, Chief of Staff to President Reagan and Mrs. Reagan. Ms. Drake asked, and I immediately agreed, that in deference to the wishes of the Reagan family, the Club will hold off on airing our latest commercial for one week. Ms. Drake made it clear that she had no problem with the contents of the TV commercial.

…And that settles that.

Of course, the left is bound to jump on this anyways…The Kerry campaign certainly did:

A Kerry spokesman said it’s “pretty sad” that Bush supporters are already politicizing the nation’s farewell to Reagan

The Kerry campaign shouldn’t be making such judgments. You know what I think? I think it’s pretty sad that Kerry supporters were politicizing Reagan’s death before he had even died. I think it’s pretty sad that Kerry “took a week off from campaigning” only to take a cheap shot at Bush after “paying his respects” to Reagan in California. I think it’s pretty sad that Kerry supporters resort to comparing Bush to Hitler. I think it’s pretty sad that Kerry compares himself to John F. Kennedy. I think it’s pretty sad that Kerry thinks he could be a black president.

It just amazes me how liberals screamed over the possibility that Reagan’s death could somehow become politically advantageous for Bush, decrying politicization of Reagan’s death, but found it okay to politicize it themselves.