Reagan politics

This is getting absurd. As you may have read, Obama, during an interview with the Reno Gazette-Journal said that "Ronald Reagan changed the trajectory of America in a way that Richard Nixon did not and in a way that Bill Clinton did not." He also said, "I think it's fair to say the Republicans were the party of ideas for a pretty long chunk of time over the last 10 or 15 years, in the sense that they were challenging conventional wisdom."

Edwards jumped on the comments yesterday, and now Clinton has given her two cents.

Edwards used Obama's remarks to point out that Reagan "openly did extraordinary damage to the middle class and working people." Fine. He can make that point. It fits in line with his campaign and it's fair.

But this is what Clinton said: "I have to say, you know, my leading opponent the other day said that he thought the Republicans had better ideas than Democrats the last ten to fifteen years. That's not the way I remember the last ten to fifteen years."

I've read Obama's comments several times and I don't see how Clinton can possible argue that he was saying "Republicans had better ideas than Democrats." He said that "Republicans were the party of ideas ... in the sense that they were challenging conventional wisdom." The difference is huge.

I don't have a strong feeling about Obama's comments. They probably weren't the smartest things to say in the middle of the primary season, but they certainly didn't turn me off. Had he said what Clinton said he said, however, I would think he was better suited for the Republican Party. It's an unfortunate distortion on her part.