The point is that Reagan's career is a guide, not only for the tea party but for all in politics. He brought his fully mature, fully seasoned self into politics with him. He wasn't in search of a life when he ran for office, and he wasn't in search of fame; he'd already lived a life, he was already well known, he'd accomplished things in the world.
Here is an old tradition badly in need of return: You have to earn your way into politics. You should go have a life, build a string of accomplishments, then enter public service. And you need actual talent: You have to be able to bring people in and along. You can't just bully them, you can't just assert and taunt, you have to be able to persuade.
The Wall Street Journal Online's Darrell Delamaide made similar comments a few weeks ago:
One candidate’s private security team handcuffs a journalist, another candidate slaps the hand of his opponent, and a third candidate refuses to shake his rival’s hand because he’s offended by a negative ad. A hyper-emotional TV personality leads a rally to restore America’s honor, while a funny man organizes one to restore its sanity.
In the midst of all this, one plodding Republican presidential candidate is quietly setting up a network in dozens of states, raising millions of dollars in campaign funds, and giving of his time and money to get Republican lawmakers elected.
All of a sudden, Mitt Romney is starting to look kind of interesting. After the melodrama of change and hope and crashing disappointment and the loopy farce of “I’m not a witch” and Hispanics looking like Asians, Romney has the qualities that seem to be missing from most other politicians – he is solid, professional, competent, and, best of all, grownup.
