Text 189, 80 rader
Skriven 2004-07-30 15:40:04 av RICHARD JOHNSON (1:10/345)
Ärende: Nancy Reagan Speaks!
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Seems Nancy holds Commander Codpiece (AKA C-plus Augustus) in less than high
esteem.


From Capitol Hill Blue

Bush Leagues
Nancy Reagan to Bush: 'We Don't Support Your Re-Election'
By TERESA HAMPTON & WILLIAM D. McTAVISH
Capitol Hill Blue Staff
Jul 30, 2004, 08:12

The widow of former President, and Republican icon, Ronald Reagan has told the
GOP she wants nothing to do with their upcoming national convention or the
re-election campaign of President George W. Bush.

Nancy Reagan turned down numerous invitations to appear at the Republican
National Convention and has warned the Bush campaign she will not tolerate any
use of her or her late husbands words or images in the President’s re-election
effort.

“Mrs. Reagan does not support President Bush’s re-election and neither to most
members of the President’s family,ö says a spokesman for the former First Lady.

Nancy Reagan
Reagan’s son, Ron, spoke at the just-concluded Democratic National Convention
and writes in next month’s Esquire magazine that “George W. Bush and his
administration have taken normal mendacity to a startling new level far beyond
lies of convenience. They traffic in big lies.ö

Ron Reagan is joined by his sister Patty in opposing Bush’s re-election effort.
Only brother Michael Reagan, a conservative talk show host, supports the
President and claims Ron is manipulating his mother.

Unlike the other Reagan children, Michael is not Reagan’s biological child. He
was adopted by Reagan during the actor’s first marriage to actress Jane Wyman
and often complains that his stepmother, Nancy, likes Ron best.

“He is her favorite,ö Michael Reagan told Fox News. “Ron can do no wrong. I
mean, basically that's it, Ron can do no wrong.ö

Ron, however, claims George W. Bush has destroyed the Republican Party his
father helped build.

“My father, acting roles excepted, never pretended to be anyone but himself,ö
Reagan writes in Esquire. “His Republican Party, furthermore, seems a far cry
from the current model, with its cringing obeisance to the religious right.ö

The Reagans’ split with Bush and the party centers around stem cell research
which many believe can help find a cure for Alzheimer’s, the disease that
crippled President Reagan in his final years. Bush and the ultra-conservative
wing of the Republican Party oppose use of new stem cells. The Reagans, with
the exception of Michael, support such use.

There’s more to the feud than that, however. Nancy Reagan has told close
followers she believes Bush and the current Republican leadership have divided
America with their extreme views. She has told Republican leaders she wants
nothing to do with the party or Bush.

During the week of Reagan’s funeral, the former First Lady “went ballisticö
when she learned the Bush campaign was test marketing new ads that used
Reagan’s photos and speeches in an effort to show he supported Bush and his
re-election. She personally called Republican Party Chief Ed Gillespie to
demand the ads be destroyed.

Republican strategists admit the ads were produced but never ran. They were
pulled after scoring poorly with focus groups where viewers found them in “poor
taste.ö

“Mrs. Reagan doesn’t care why the ads were pulled. She just wanted to make sure
they never went on the air,ö says a spokesman for the First Lady. “She does
care about whether or not the memory of President Reagan is used for political
purposes.ö

ÿ Copyright 2004 Capitol Hill Blue


 
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