Why is it that Sam Stein hates Ron Paul so much?
Ron paul has been the ONLY politician of either party to criticise Reagan's failures and does so on explicit terms not generalities or predjudices. He also critcises any republican who does not conform to the traditional principles of the GOP, i.e, fiscal conservatism, non-interventionism, etc. People also forget that Ron Paul is a Jeffersonian Republican (Yes, that radical guy Jefferson was a republican) not a Reagan repub. Note also that Dr. Paul refers to the icon of traditional republicanism, Barry Goldwater.

The Republicans Reagan fixation is no longer bordering on creepy, it is officially whacked out. They do nothing but fight over who is more like Reagan, who talks like him, thinks like him, acts like him, looks like him, wants to enact policies like him. How myopic and scary. I used to like John McCain, but a maverick he is no longer. He is pandering with the best of them and practically admitting he would have sex with a dead man. The whole thing is beyond odd and the mass media refuses to flat out call them on it. A question last night should have absolutely been: "Why are you all so fixated on Reagan?" Watch them squirm their way out of that one.

First Bush gets kissed at the SOTU by another man, then every Repub candidate slips into bed with Reagan...talk about a party in denial.

Agree with BaltoAman, while Ron Paul admired the principles that drove Reagan, he recognizes what was wrong at the end of Reagan's presidency.

However he is the only one that can claim he campaigned with him, and he is too humble to admit that Reagan already endorsed him years ago.

Yes Ron Paul brought in his name and the other candidates ran with it, they ran with several of the arguments Ron Paul brought to the early debates, but Ron Paul didn't take part in the "adoration" of Reagan, he only admires so much.

Ron Paul is Ron Paul, he is not following the steps of anyone else, he only admires a few of other presidents positions and compares them to his own.

The only authentic candidate up there was Ron Paul.

He is wise, he knows history and does not elevate any president to the point of divinity, he recognizes who made mistakes, and he is not afraid to point it out even if it is Lincoln; but that it is good it only means he will not repeat their mistakes.
He proposes the best foreign policy, he knows the solution to the economical crisis, and he wants to give the country back to the people.

Ron Paul doesn't benefit from endorsements that much because his character speaks for his own. None the less the sheeple might need to see other famous people join in the Ron Paul revolution.

RON PAUL the true champion of the constitution, and the taxpayers best friend.

This obsession with the senile meat puppet of a cabal is amazing. The boys(Regan,Meese,Baker,Smith,etc) behind the throne did more damage to this country than anyone since Hoover. I guess, as the GOP fades into oblivion, he can be their equivalent of a last meal.

taxes on the middle class

no trickle down

destruction of the unions

glorification by the media

i must be living somewhere other than where i think i am.

Every time I hear about Reagan worship from the Republicons, I think: don't these people care that this man CONSPIRED WITH TERRORISTS?!?! Our embassy employees in Iran were held longer than they would've been, because of Reagan's team going over there and negotiating with Islamic extremists to make his election chances better. What a patriotic, conservative, truly American thing to do. He conspired with terrorists; what a hero.

The hard pull to the right started with Ronnie Raygun but it was George Herbert Walker Bush who finally closed the deal with the christofascists.

In order to win elections, the "new world order" neoconvicts were forced to share power with the evangelicals who eventually took control of the party and who set about systematically destroying the so called "moderates".

And it has turned the "big tent" into a "tent revival".

"...the Ron Paul campaign sent out a post-debate press..."

The key word here is "campaign" meaning not the man himself. While Ronnie and Ron were definitely friends, I believe Ron Paul was dissapointed with the eventual outcome of the Reagan era.

Reagan was charged to balance the budget and reduce taxes. The only way that works is to reduce spending as well, and that never happened. On the contrary, Reagan oversaw one of the largest military buildups in our history.

Also, with the War on Drugs fiasco, the prison system doubled, CIA and FBI grew to obscene sizes, etc. We continued our expensive and misguided foreign entanglements, Afghanistan being a classic example.

The national debt actually TRIPLED under Reagan, making him a failed conservative. He didn't change Washington, Washington changed him.

While RP's campaign may be trying to jump on the Reagan bandwagon, you seldom here Dr. Paul himself praise Reagan - certainly not like these other guys anyway.

No different that the Obama worship going on here.

All cults have their leaders.

The Reagan library the AirForce One display is quite impressive.

They HAVE to worship a dead man, there are no LIVe repubs. worth their salt. What is it about Reagan that they find so exceptional? Was it that he wore make-up, that he had alzheimers and still kept his job? In my mind I think taxpayers were on the receiving end of a big fraud, having him continue in office with a mind destroying illness. Maybe they are all of a "certain age" and think that if they lose their minds, their fellow repubs. will cover for them. Barbara Bush, she of the "beautiful mind", must hate all this Reagan worship. Nancy disliked the Bush family intensely. How well I know THAT feeling. Ronnie closed all the mental health facilities, and shoved mentally ill people out on the street. Probably they were not repubs. anyway, so who cared. Who knew that a mentally ill person would hold office for the last 7 years, and destroy what was left of the US.

Gee Borak Hussain Obama should have been there for that lovefest, he thinks Reagan was so great....!

I noticed something interesting tonight. Anderson Cooper brought up the fact that Reagan, the man who the candidates worship, nominated Sandra Day O'Connor to be on the Supreme Court. Anderson then asked each candidate if they would have done what Reagan did. The four candidates' responses, "No", made me realise that Reagan was a much more liberal politician than any of the current Republican candidates.

What were some of the other things that Reagan did that would make him unacceptable to today's Republicans? He asked that most illegal immigrants be granted amnesty.

When the military adventure in Lebanon became surprisingly deadly to American servicemen, did Reagan utter platitudes like "We must stay the course!" or "If we withdraw our troops, the terrorists win!"? No, he made an executive decision to withdraw U.S. troops from an area that did not require our presence, and from which our troops were likely to suffer inordinately while accomplishing very little. Reagan was willing to use troops in places like Grenada and Panama, but was concerned about not wasting lives.

It occurs to me that Reagan, along with every other major Republican political figure of the 20th century, would be unwelcome in today's GOP. That is a very scary fact. How did the Republicans become so radical? And, what will happen if they manage to elect one of their own to the Presidency again?

Reps seem to forget truly great Republican presidents - Lincoln and Teddy Roosevelt.