Obama, Reagan, Blacks, Republicans and Obamacans

During a meeting with a Reno, Nevada, newspaper last week, Senator Barack Obama said: “Ronald Reagan changed the trajectory of America in a way that Richard Nixon did not, and a way that Bill Clinton did not.” Obama went on to says, “I think it’s fair to say that the Republicans were the party of ideas for a pretty long chunk of time there over the last 10 to 15 years in the sense that they were challenging conventional wisdom.”

Obama was criticized for his comments, by Hillary, Edwards and this African American Political Pundit. Now Senator Obama has responded to the criticisms. Check out the Obama response:

“I didn’t’ say I liked Ronald Reagan’s policies,” Obama explained. “What I said was that was the kind of working majority we need to form in order to move a progressive agenda forward. So when I see, you know, Senator Clinton or President Clinton distort my words, say somehow that I was saying Republican (sic) the only ones who had good ideas since 1980 – then that is not a way to move the debate forward. That is not a way to help the American people. And I am not running for president just to become president – I’m running to help the American people and move the debate forward. I’m not willing to say or do anything just to win an election, because when you start operating that way, you lose the trust of the American people and we need trust if we’re going to build the kind of country that all of us want for our children and our grandchildren.”

Obama also said Reagan “was able to tap into the discontent of the American people and he was able to get Democrats to vote Republican – they were called Reagan Democrats.” This skill of bridging party divides is one that Obama admits he hopes to emulate. “We as Democrats right now, should tap into the discontent of Republicans. I want some Obama Republicans!”

AAPP: I guess we will see if he can get Republicans to become “Obamacans.”