I am younger. Please help me understand,Is this how it felt when they elected actor "Ronald Reagan?"

[vrguy]

n/t

[boston bean]

1. NO. This was more of a complete slap in the face in what you think the country stood for.

This guy so openly using bigotry... it is way different.

[elleng]

2. No.

'Surprised' and angry, but not disgusted and afraid.

[SCantiGOP]

3. No

He had been a bit of a joke when he went from actor to politician, but he was then a Governor and, while his politics were very conservative, he clearly wasn't crazy and he was amiable and polite.
Nothing has ever been like Trump. I "knew"
that Nixon would be the worst President in my lifetime until Bush came along, but both of them look like Mt Rushmore candidates compared to this disaster.

[BSdetect]

4. Reagan was more of a ham actor

drumph is a potential life on earth destroyer

[jalan48]

5. Reagan was worse for me.

We were only seven years removed from Nixon being kicked out of office and suddenly we had an extreme right-wing candidate in the White House. The entire election felt scripted with the Iran hostage situation being used to influence the outcome.

[RKP5637]

9. Reagan was an actor and I always felt his entire presidency was an act, hence "The entire election

felt scripted" Yep!!!

[jalan48]

11. Agreed-he was good at reading cue cards-he was literally,"The Acting President".

[femmocrat]

12. When he beat Mondale by 49 states (1984), I was in total shock.

This was after Iran-Contra and all the other scandals. It was also obvious in the debates that he was "senile," and people voted for him anyhow. Never underestimate the stupidity of the electorate.

I was heart-broken when Carter lost, but he was under attack from so many sides during his tenure. And we found out later how that was manipulated.

[jalan48]

15. I was in a state of rage for much of Reagan's Presidency.

All the horrible shit we pulled in Central America and the law breaking of Oliver North and crew. I felt like the chance we were given after Nixon was booted and then the outing of our secret government (FBI,CIA,NSA) was quickly squashed by the powers behind the scenes.

[philosslayer]

65. Iran-Contra came to light in 1986 -- two years after the 1984 elections

Reagan's first term was relatively scandal free.

[femmocrat]

85. Your memory is better than mine!

Thanks for the correction.

[Raine]

46. That's the way I felt too, Raygun was more sickening to me. Raygun took the

presidency away from a sitting president, probably the most decent man to ever hold that office.

[skylucy]

6. I am older and I remember when Reagan was elected. It was NOTHING like this.

This is much much worse. Reagan had been governor of California and though he was a nasty Republican, his election was not anywhere near as terrifying and crazy as the election of Trump. Trump being elected is HISTORIC in its implications. We are in unchartered waters.

[RKP5637]

13. Yep, Reagan was not crude and rude. I did not like his polices, but he was not a monster like

Trump. With Reagan you did not feel the entire country was going over the cliff and could never recover, but with this guy Trump, we are likely headed into some dark abyss with no compass and likely no way out.

[Fast Walker 52]

53. Yep. It's too dark to even think about too much.

I even had a nightmare last night of whole cities blowing up.

[RKP5637]

70. I'm sometimes good at premonitions and this is like something out of a

combination of Twilight Zone and a Batman movie. It's not only Trump but this whole cast of characters he's enabling. There is just so much that can go drastically wrong.

[moonscape]

41. Agree. The big difference was that w/ Reagan I was distraught, but

didn't think our very civil liberties, rule of law, etc were in long-term peril. And certainly, I never once thought he was something that would take at least a generation to recover from.

There was not the blatant horror of what Republicans have been systematically doing. I had some Republican friends, and we would disagree on things, sure, but I actually respected the opinions of the smart ones even when I disagreed. That is no longer the case.

No comparison.

Today's Republicans, who can't stop talking about the Constitution, will actually prevent the President from filling a vacancy. And, they will start talking about how - oh, we don't need 8 justices until we can get a Republican in the WH.

It's outrageous and scary. T is a product of what they have been creating.

[treestar]

50. Exactly

Even Dubya had at least been governor of a state! This clown is not only a right winger, he knows nothing!

[uponit7771]

112. Yeap, my understanding is RayGun tried to keep his racism under wraps but DPutin is normalizing his

[NRaleighLiberal]

7. I would rank Reagan third, Dumbya second...and this worst by far.

60 years old here - was in grad school when Reagan was elected.

[mtnsnake]

8. No, this is much scarier. Trump could literally get us all killed

The man is a sociopath and will stop at nothing to come out on top.

However, Ronald Reagan is one of the most overrated presidents ever.

This is probably closer to the way we felt when George W Bush got elected, and then elected for a second term.

[jmowreader]

39. This is worse than Bush

Bush had been a governor before he was elected president. He had experience in working with legislators. Trump, on the other hand, has experience in giving orders and firing anyone who doesn't carry them out fast enough or well enough. I figure it'll take about a month before the US Congress starts treating Trump the way the General Court of Massachusetts treated Romney or the Maine Legislature treats Paul LePage. Before we know it, the Republican-led Congress will start passing Democratic-written bills just to piss him off.

[handmade34]

10. a big NO!

this is much different... many times more dangerous... Reagan set us back decades, this has the potential to take us someplace we can't come out of

[billymike]

14. Yes, for me:

I was 24, the father of two babies, working in human services, so my job was cut within weeks of his inauguration, as promised. He was a horrible old man, like T. Me and my friends couldn't afford to move to Canada, as we wished to then; and I do think it might have been a very good move. Our Reagan shock took a while to fade, but we grew jaded over time, avoiding any discussion of RR. Life did go on.

[unblock]

16. although both right-wing, reagan was a world of difference.

reagan was (certainly in rhetoric), a very "principled" man. we democrats certainly disagreed with those "principles", but at least it had the benefit of making him very predictable. we could negotiation, react, make deals, etc., knowing where he stood.

reagan did much damage during his tenure, but democrats could work with him, the economy did improve for the most part (not that he deserved much credit), etc.


with trump, there doesn't appear to be any silver lining in that dark, dark cloud. he's not predictable, he's corrupt, he's thin-skinned, he's volatile, his primary motivation is personal and family enrichment, he's extremely ignorant, he's far more overtly bigoted than reagan, etc.

time will tell, but i'm expecting democrats to be largely shut out. yeah, maybe the token one or two conservadems sign on and they pretend it's "bipartisan", but i'm expecting only a choice between a couple of right-wing plans on any subject.

i'm expecting a recession, a war, yet more extreme income/wealth gap, more corruption, more overt bigotry/sexism, etc.. nothing good in the next four years.

[MicaelS]

17. Only somewhat.

Carter had become deeply unpopular because of the Iran Hostage situation, another Arab oil embargo, and the fact he was a smart, serious person who refused to tell Americans everything was right with America. Carter was perceived as weak because he would not threaten the Iranians, and would not "stand up to" the USSR.

The similarity was the election of Reagan was a backlash against the 1960s and 1970s. There have always been a lot of very Conservative people in the US. Our social progress has often been 2 steps forward, 1 and a half steps back.

[whathehell]

18. No, this is much worse..

Reagan at least had SOME experience in public service as governor of California...He was also "civil" and "pleasant"...He did not act like a thuggish insult king...He was conservative, but not extreme to the point of threatenimg social security or medicare, or for fuck's sake, the public school system.. Unlike Trump, he appeared to be a basically "normal" person.

[OKNancy]

19. No, this is the worst ever in my life, even Nixon

[DavidDvorkin]

20. It did for me

It also felt that way in 1968, when Nixon won. And in 2000, when Little George won.

[liberalnarb]

79. Just like this year, Bush didn't "win".

[DavidDvorkin]

87. True.

[NastyRiffraff]

21. I remember being angry and frustrated

when Reagan won. But that was nothing...NOTHING...compared to the rage and fear I feel now. I thought W was bad, too, even dangerous. But this is 100 times worse.

[guillaumeb]

22. Reagan's racism was slightly more coded.

But it was there all the same. And both proposed large tax cuts for the rich that exploded the deficit.

So yes, in my view much the same racist, incompetence and silly slogan substituting for a real plan.

Reagan was a smiling friendly appearing racist, Trump is the grimacing mean racist.

[immoderate]

67. That sums it up for me too.

Reagan systematically moved the tax burden from the rich to the poor. Trump is the billionaire's billionaire.

--imm

[eppur_se_muova]

23. Parallel vectors -- same direction, different magnitudes.

tRump is much, much worse, though Reagan was the thin end of the wedge that got it all started.

[pangaia]

24. At the time I thought it was horrible, disgusting.

Little did I know how much worse it could possibly be.

[kimbutgar]

25. No because at least a ray gun had governing experience in California.

[splat]

26. Reagan had been cast in the part

Reagan become the front man for a group of wealthy California Republicans after a focus group said they would buy anything from this man. We didn't know who was behind him, really.

Trump is the opposite, all him, all surface, has few friends and will appoint them all to his cabinet. Yikes!

[LuckyLib]

61. And as a result, RR had to have a fleet of competent people behind him, making

and implementing policy. He was the amiable dunce front man, who, as his mind began to fail him, was propped up by them all, especially his wife. Sad and pitiful. dRump is horrifying and is beyond anything we could have ever imagined. When RR and W start to seem palatable, you know we're in trouble.

[bettyellen]

27. This is worse. At least Regan was experienced and not openly hostile to so many people and the press

Was much more balanced back then. Well he took care of that and now we are where we are.

[Red Knight]

28. I was a young person when Reagan was elected.

This is much, much worse.

While Reagan was not the God the Republicans would have you believe, by today's standards he'd be a moderate Republican. He couldn't win their election today.

Trump is a nightmare.

[WhoWoodaKnew]

29. No way. The country was kind of depressed when Carter was in office.

I liked him a lot but a lot of bad stuff happened while he (Carter) was in office. A lot of good stuff has happened with Obama in office. Carter's approval rating was terribly low when he left office. Obama's will be pretty good. Reagan was a very personable man. Trump is slim. I actually voted for Reagan and at the time it felt like the right decision. I didn't know so many scandals would happen during his administration. As much as we give Reagan grief, he had many good qualities. Trickle down hurt people but he actually thought he was going to help people. Trump doesn't give a shit about anybody but himself.

Think about it. Reagan at least had class. You'd never dream of him purposely walking in on naked women or spending his life in court for cheating people out of money. Heck, Obama and Reagan actually have a few similar policy positions. The Republican party has turned HARD right and WAY away from Reagan's views. He'd get blown out in today's (crazy) republican party.

[MyOwnPeace]

86. Reagan didn't have.........

the "TEA PARTY IDIOTS!!!!"

THIS is a major difference in how things get done now. Not even the Repugs can control them and are scared to try to - and the mix of them and Drumpf - God help us all!

[doc03]

30. No Trump is much worse than RR ever was and dumber n/t

[Trust Buster]

31. No, Reagan didn't spend 18 months of an election cycle insulting basic decency and individual rights

[Richard D]

32. It was bad,

but this is magnitudes worse.

[Hekate]

33. This is far, far worse. RR was an amiable sap who seemed to like humanity....

I detested him on policy, but that's different.

Trump is a hateful bombastic proto-Hitler who hates all those beneath him, which is nearly everyone but his own spawn.

[JI7]

34. NO. i was too young to remember but Bush elections were closer but even they were nothing

Like what is happening now.

[bluedigger]

35. Reagan was more like a push in the back at the top of a dark stairwell.

Trump feels more like the face stomp you get lying at the foot of the stairs.

[50 Shades Of Blue]

36. I was devastated then and I'm devastated now.

The thing about Reagan is that he knew how to hide behind a mask of affability and fake out some people who lazily mistook that for the real thing instead of bothering to look behind it and see him for the utter monster he truly was.

Too many fucking times I heard variations of "I didn't vote for him but he's a decent man."

Trump's monstrousness is right in your face.

[tgards79]

37. No...

Reagan was a former governor and almost won the presidential nomination in 1976. He had been on the political scene for several decades. He was not seen as an outsider. He WAS seen as a hawk and a bit of a lightweight, and scary for those reasons....the "in over his head" element was there. But he was not erratic at all, had a fixed and firm philosophy (however abhorrent), and never insulted anyone. Plus he did speak very well and had an excellent sense of humor.

[SeattleVet]

38. I was in the Air Force at the time, stationed in Germany.

I remember that I threw a combat boot at the TV when the returns came in. I got out of the service in 1984, after 12 years, shortly before he got his dumb ass re-elected. Him holding the office was a large part of my decision to separate.

Couldn't stand the guy; I almost always referred to him either as 'that bastard reagan' or 'the acting president'.

tRump is far worse than anything we could have imagined that Bonzo's co-star could have come up with.

[Retrograde]

40. Reagan had put in two terms as governor

of a major state, so he wasn't starting out at the top. He also won the popular vote as well as the electoral college vote (albeit with some dirty tricks), and while I still disagree with his policies and choices he did not set out to screw the country over and line his own pockets. When he won I was disappointed, but it was more like, "you win some, you lose some" than the feeling of utter despair I felt this year. This was also back in the days when there were reasonable, rational Republicans who could work with Democrats in Congress when they had to.

ETA: I've actually enjoyed some of his movies (never saw Bedtime for Bonzo, though)

[lunasun]

42. No this is really not normal

[NoGoodNamesLeft]

43. No, Reagan wasn't an asshole or bat-shit crazy

Or a conspiracy theorist. This is the absolute WORST election result in the history of the country. America elected an orange festering boil on the ass of humanity.

[FiveGoodMen]

44. This is a whole lot worse.

Reagan set the country back quite a way, but he didn't seem like an out-of-control fascist and he didn't appear to set loose a bunch of Nazi wing nuts.

He was a great disappointment and his ongoing popularity has certainly continued to hold the nation back from the progress it should have made.

But no one ever confused him with Hitler.

[ailsagirl]

45. Not At ALL

The closest I can come to is when junior stole the election-- we all were pretty worried-- that worry gave way to outright loathing as the years rolled by. Little did we know...

But no-- we've never had such a nauseating, psychotic, and completely terrifying piece of garbage "win" the election.

[Drunken Irishman]

47. Reagan was a cheap B-List actor, but he at least had political experience.

After all, he had been governor of the largest state.

This would've been like America electing Ross Perot in 1992. Well, a Nazi Perot.

[onecaliberal]

48. No, unchartered terrortory here. I was NEVER afraid of his eagerness to use nukes.

He wasn't even close that being the dumbfuck trump is, although he did substantial damage to the country and that's why I am so terribly concerned there will be NOTHING left when trump is run out of DC and I do believe he will be.

[anamnua]

49. Reagan could hardly have been accused of being a Russian stooge.

Last edited Sat Nov 26, 2016, 01:32 PM - Edit history (2)

Reagan told the Russians to 'butt out' of Poland. Trump has practically invited them into the Baltic states.

[Fast Walker 52]

54. for sure-- major difference

[Turbineguy]

51. No.

Reagan had government executive experience. He'd been governor of California. And he didn't make it obvious that he was going to use the position to line his pockets.

[InAbLuEsTaTe]

52. No... this racist Nazi supremacist is FAR worse!!!

[MyNameIsKhan]

55. This man is like death wish come true...

[randr]

56. Reagan was horrible

The pig that won the EC is far worse.

[Zambero]

57. Not by a longshot

With Reagan in 1980 there was some degree of apprehension. However unlike Trump he had 8 years' experience in government and was considered pragmatic, mainstream conservative, and not an unhinged tool of neo-Nazis. Trump is 100% uncharted territory.

[Protalker]

58. Yes and he still figures in

Ronald Reagan started the anti-intellectualsm that still runs Republican politics. Trump is a caricature of Lonesome Rhodes in A Face in the Crowd.

[MiniMe]

59. At least Ray-Gun had political experience

He was President of the screen actors guild (not much experience for POTUS) and Governor of California.

tRump has zero experience in politics.

[GWC58]

60. No! At that time, November 1980, I was 22 & and a shipmate

on the USS BUCHANAN DDG-14, in San Diego. I wasn't filled with dread, as I am now. That being said I was no fan of "Rappin Ronnie Ray-Gun" Reagan. When he canned the air traffic controllers I had a feeling his presidency, for many people, would not be good. I was hoping he'd be a one term president. Alas that wasn't to be. Eight years of Reagan, followed by four years of Poppy Bush.😠

[northoftheborder]

62. NO

This CON is a nightmare, a sour, sickening, unbelievable cancer on America. Reagan was wrong about many many things, and did damage to the direction this country was going; but he was not immoral, mean, selfish, or emotionally unstable. This CON is all of those and more - others have expressed it in more adequate ways. I've run out of words and am now growing numb.

[Blanks]

63. Reagan was an actor, Trump is a character of fiction...

Somehow everyone (particularly right wingers) forgets that when Reagan was elected we slumped into a huge recession immediately afterward. In my hometown a large percentage of the farm families went bankrupt and never returned to farming. Inflation was out of control and Carter tightened up the money supply by appointing Paul Volker to the fed, Reagan blamed it all on Carter (successfully).

Trump's resume would be most like Herbert Hoover. Hoover never served in elective office, Hoover was wealthy, Hoover never served in the military.

I'm waiting for Trump's first 'let them eat cake' moment, when he demonstrates that he has no idea what the working class is suffering through.

The upside of this whole disaster is that Hoover's depression ended republican control of the government for decades to follow. The downside is that it's probably time to tighten up our belts.

It really is about the press though. Whatever media form takes control of 'the truth' in the next 4 to 8 years will decide which party will control the government for the next generation.

Roosevelt spoke directly to the people on the radio, and the military industrial complex owned the television when Reagan took office. Carter never fired a shot, dropped a bomb etc. George W. Bush rose to power through the ownership and control of media too.

If we don't fight for more control over media, it'll be a while before we are in control again.

[gollygee]

64. No - it was really obvious he was going to win

There was no surprise on election night.

And he was bad but not this bad.

[Midwestern Democrat]

66. One huge difference - the Democratic Party had a lot more power left in 1980 than they do today.

These were the results of the down ballot races in 1980:

Senate: 53 R 46 D (Democrats lost 12 seats - a Republican Senate was considered a major shock in 1980)
House: 243 D 192 R (Democrats lost 34 seats but retained a majority)
Governors: 27 D 23 R
State Legislatures: Both Houses controlled by Democrats: 28 states
Both Houses controlled by Republicans: 16 states (including non-partisan Nebraska)
Split control of the two houses: 6 states

And this was pretty much the high water mark of the Republicans before 1994 - all of those numbers became much more favorably Democratic by the end of Reagan's presidency.

[LeftInTX]

76. I agree

[s-cubed]

68. This feels far worse. nt

[JI7]

69. Reagan had been governor of california

[no_hypocrisy]

71. Nobody hated Jimmy Carter like Barak Obama.

The republicans had their issues such as Carter didn't oppose the Panama Canal to be controlled by Panama, not the U.S., the Hostage Crisis in Iran, and the botched helicopter rescue.

But Reagan was a hold-over from 1976 when he challenged Gerald Ford for the nomination and was viewed as Barry Goldwater Lite. He wasn't Jesus returning to save the U.S. when he was elected.

[TeamPooka]

100. Correction: Republicans hated Carter. They villified him everyhwere. Reagan, Bob Hope & Charlton

Heston were the worst and most famous attackers
I used to like Bob Hope and a few years ago I heard a bootleg concert audio of him in 78 or 79 at Towson College in MD.
He sang some songs and did some of his old bits but spent a lot of it saying really mean Fox News kind of stuff, real offensive shit, about the ENTIRE Carter family including his mother, wife, and even daughter Amy.
I lost all respect for Hope then.
The GOP hated him so much they made sure they pissed on his legacy for decades because he was such a better man in every way than they were.

[no_hypocrisy]

106. I've wondered whether it was because of republican defensiveness due to Nixon being

forced to resign or deciding to oppose Carter on anything he did or didn't do from Day One like Obama.

[TeamPooka]

111. Nixon resigning is what drove the GOP over the edge. Because a Republican was the most

corrupt president ever, they decided to break government.
Then the Nixon thing won't be their fault.
Or the fact that Reagan had more folks indicted and jailed than any president ever too.
The GOP likes to say government is broken all the time and they make sure it's true by breaking it themselves.

[Eugene]

72. Reagan's policies were noxious but he didn't use Trump's naked appeals to barbarism.

There was also a Democratic-controlled House to keep back some of the most outrageous sh**.

Reagan could be fast and loose with the facts, but he did so in a likable fashion that could be attributed to senility. Trump is just crude and vile.

The Reagan cabinet gave us some stellar examples of bad governance (James Watt, Anne Gorsuch, etc.) Trump isn't even pretending to follow democratic principles of accountability or transparency. Trump and his alt-right allies are here to burn the place down.

[zonkers]

73. Regan was good for Punk Rock and rap music. Gave you something to rebel against.

[Ken Burch]

74. This feels worse than that.

A lot of us were sure, at the time, that it would galvanize the Left if Reagan actually got in. A lot of activism happened, but it never reached a point at which the potential people's majority that always exists was actually united in a common project.

There is a deeper sense of despair among people now.

[potone]

75. Yes, it felt that way to me at the time.

But this is in reality much worse. Reagan at least had some experience, and although his cabinet was appalling, he wasn't as dangerously ignorant and hate-mongering as Trump is. I am very, very fearful of what the next four years will bring. Already bigots, racists, misogynists and downright fascists are feeling emboldened, and there have been ugly racist incidents.

[hibbing]

77. This is much worse n/t

[shenmue]

78. It was bad, yes

[LonePirate]

80. Unlike now, Democrats still controlled the House comfortably when Reagan was elected.

At least Reagan had some experience governing California. This is far more ominous.

[mahatmakanejeeves]

81. This is much worse.

There was nothing in 1980 to compare to the internet and its fake "news."

We recovered from Reagan, but this time it's terminal.

About me: the first election for which I was old enough to vote was 1972's. I think that was the first with a voting age of 18, but I was already past that.

I was in boot camp. Our company commander did not care for McGovern. I did not take his advice.

[BeyondGeography]

82. I'm calling it a push

Reagan was a deeper change for the country. He won in a landslide. I was 21 and all of a sudden there were young Republicans. Maybe they were always there but they were never in your face and that blew my mind. Then you had all the fundies, Jim and Tammy Faye and the Falwell factor. Huge, freaky changes. Trump feels like a one-term fluke. Then again, he also feels a lot more dangerous and fully capable of a major FP catastrophe.

[aidbo]

83. I was about 4 years old, but I can remember my parents' concern.

I could sense that something 'bad' had happened.

[kwassa]

84. No, this is more like Bush beating Gore ...

I thought Bush completely unqualified, and he was, but he is not remotely as bad as Trump. The fight over the results, too.

[stopbush]

88. Reagan set the downward spiral for our country.

Without him, there would have never been a president W or a president-elect Trump. In a very real sense, Reagan is the worst because he set the stage for the bigoted party the Rs have become over the past 30 years.

[bdamomma]

89. Someone just said

Reagan was "scripted" that's true, an actor who then was Governor and played the part. He was NOT a friend or supporter of the AIDS epidemic either, kind of was made aware of AIDS way too late. I remember that trickle down Reganomics yea trickle down all right. In regards to this election which was stolen again, by a reality star with no political ideology, has no respect for the country or its people. When do rich people ever understand the plight of the evaporating Middle class or for poor people or minorities, now we have the KKK celebrating and people unleashing their hate upon others. He was born with a silver spoon in his mouth how do expect someone like that to understand. Nothing but a con man.

THIS IS NOT NORMAL. I pray to whatever gods are up there to protect this earth and its inhabitants.

[pansypoo53219]

90. 2016 was MEDIA MANIPULATION. PERIOD.

[LastLiberal in PalmSprings]

91. I'm not a historian, but Trump could possibly be the worst president ever

1. He's a sociopath.
2. He has no respect for the rule of law.
3. The only things that matter to him are his huge ego and his wealth, which are intertwined. He's beginning to see how he can use the presidency to increase both, with no one effectively resisting him (hence the "I'm above the law" statement regarding putting his assets in a blind trust, which should have generated a massive outcry on both sides of the aisle).
4. He has no government or military experience and is surrounding himself with incompetent deplorables whose sole purpose is to dismantle the Constitution and destroy every bit of social progress since the Civil War.
5. He will start a war if his feelings are hurt.
6. He is the first president in my lifetime that I fear would use the nuclear bomb, and I used to serve in SAC waiting at the end of a runway in case the Russians attacked.
7. Even if he's impeached on the second day, he'll be replaced by Pense, who's worse than Trump.

[Coyotl]

92. Reagan was Act One, we thought it was over with Act III, Bush.

This is so much worse in many ways, but also even more unexpected, which compounds the shock. How can America be even more stupid is the question now, after Bush showed us how bad things can get.

After Nixon, it seemed the country would never go back to them, that Dems would be in the WH for a long while. But no, they buy their way back by buying the media and controlling thought and even the truth now.

[anamnua]

94. It says a lot about Trump

that he makes it possible to look on the Reagan era with a certain wistful nostalgia.

[andym]

95. Yes. He basically ran away from all his extreme positions in the debate with Carter

"There you go again Jimmy" when Carter brought up Reagan's opposition to Medicare etc.

But in retrospect, at least Reagan did read articles about policies even if they were only in Reader's Digest. Trump doesn't appear to read anything but twitter feeds and headlines.

[FSogol]

96. In my opinion, it is exaclty the same. The country made a wrong turn because they'd rather eat

desert than eat their vegetables.

[Paladin]

97. Trump makes Reagan look like FDR, by comparison. (nt)

[ismnotwasm]

98. I was quite young myself then

And no--this is a different kind of repulsive on a level I can't articulate well. It so fucked up and wrong.

But asshole Reagan got me interested in political activism--I remember I had a tee shirt with a good drawing of Reagan with his finger up his nose with the caption "Who picked this man?" (I should try to get one like that for Trump, except I don't want Trumps likeness next to my body--he's THAT repulsive)

[TeamPooka]

99. As bad as his policies were Reagan had put in time serving others: as head of SAG and as Gov of CA

he at least had some political experience and history representing people by the time he won the White House.
He had respect for the history of institution and knew it was a serious job
That said he was still one of the worst Presidents ever.

[GWC58]

101. No.

Not even close! While I didn't care for Reagan, or his policies, he was onetime governor of California. Back when Reagan was president I don't believe Trump had much to say about him in a positive way. Now it seems like Trump is trying to immulate him. That terrifies me, especially with some of his cabinet nominees. His picking Jeff Sessions is particularly bothersome, at least to me. This the same man, because of his racist past, the Senate would not confirm for a Federal judge position. I'm pretty sure he'll have trouble this time as he's now a member.

[GWC58]

102. I meant "no trouble this time."

[0rganism]

103. Nope. this is much much worse.

Reagan at least had some history of public service, however ugly and destructive were some of his policies. for all its hazards, the world was a simpler place with comprehensible balances of power among a handful of superpowers (usually 2).
this is orders of magnitude worse, in nearly every conceivable way.

[Dawson Leery]

104. My parents had deep disappointment, but not dispair.

Also, the country was in the doldrums in 1980. The economy is doing better today.

Donnie is much worse as he does not respect the institutions of the nation.

[Ilsa]

105. How it feels to me:

Reagan should have been fired for his politics, but trump should be in prison for being a horrible human being (sociopath).

[Vinca]

107. No. This is much, much worse.

Reagan was bad news, but he wasn't a narcissistic psychopath.

[kairos12]

108. Yes. Raygun begat Bush who opened the door for Drumpt.

[randome]

109. No. Even in the 60s, on the Get Smart TV series, they made jokes about Reagan becoming President.

Trump is an entirely different species than a lifetime politician. He is without a doubt the dumbest, most unqualified man to have been voted into office. For all his right-wing buffoonery, Reagan was not dumb.
[hr][font color="blue"][center]Stop looking for heroes. BE one.[/center][/font][hr]

[KittyWampus]

110. Reagan used racism but he used dog whistles the media could easily ignore.

Trump uses racism and embraced Breitbart's Neo Nazis and the media still tends to ignore it.

Reagan worked to counter Soviet influence. Trump, with Bannon's help, openly embraced Putin/Russias help along with the White Supremacists who seem to be the bridge between the Far Right Republicans and Russia.