Misunderstanding Ronald Reagan

Entering politics after his great speech on behalf of Barry Goldwater's campaign, Ronald Reagan surprisingly won the California Governorship in a landslide.

Over two Presidential elections, Reagan lost four states -- and two of those were the home states of his two opponents, Jimmy Carter and Walter Mondale. The only state to vote against Reagan both times was Minnesota, where Mondale hailed from.

As he left office, he was as popular as any President in the history of the country.

Yet, throughout all that, the Republican hierarchy has never understood what made Reagan so great or so popular.

The Eastern Establishment hated when he challenged Gerald Ford in the 1976 primaries. When he nearly knocked off an incumbent President -- albeit an unelected one -- on the floor of Kemper Arena, they could not comprehend why; they were just glad it didn't happen.

Four years later, they opposed his candidacy; he was too conservative, they said. Bob Dole and George H.W. Bush were their top choices. Thankfully, the American people chose to ignore them, with 47 states electing him.

Still, the RNC did not understand the appeal of Reagan. Finally, they found the answer: He was an actor! Instead of seeing the mass appeal of Reagan's message -- low taxes, small government, aggressive foreign policy -- they felt he was only popular because 30 years earlier he appeared in movies.

This fundamental misunderstanding led many to feel Arnold Schwarzenegger could be an effective Governor. And now, people feel as if Fred Thompson is the "next Reagan" because he, too, appeared in movies.

By making it appear as if all one needs to do to be like Reagan is to be in Hollywood, people vastly underestimate Reagan's intellect. Today, after book after book has been published full of Reagan's letters and written speeches, one would think he would not be considered an "amiable dunce" any more.

There was much more to Reagan than playing the Gipper -- but for Fred Thompson, playing Arthur Branch on NBC is it.