Byron York‘s latest Washington Examiner article notes Sarah Palin’s role this weekend in celebrating the 40th president’s legacy.
Being seen as Reaganesque is at least one leg up in any primary contest.
Which makes it interesting that the GOP politician who will have the most prominent role in celebrating Ronald Reagan’s 100th birthday here in Southern California this weekend is Sarah Palin. On Friday night, the 2008 vice presidential candidate, an unquestionably divisive presence among Republicans, will deliver an address at the Reagan Ranch Center in Santa Barbara — an address modeled, no less, on Reagan’s famous 1964 speech, “A Time for Choosing,” that made him a star in the party.
“We can think of no one more fitting to honor our time’s greatest defender of freedom, Ronald Reagan,” says Ron Robinson, head of the conservative Young America’s Foundation, which owns and runs Rancho del Cielo, Reagan’s old ranch in the Santa Ynez mountains. “Governor Palin understands that freedom in our nation now stands on the precipice. She knows what Ronald Reagan knew: ‘Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction.’ ”
Palin’s high-wattage appearance at the Ranch Center event stands in contrast to events at the Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley. The library is the official, establishment repository of the Reagan legacy, and it will host veterans of the Reagan administration this weekend for a concert and military-flavored celebration of the centennial. There will be video tributes from both Presidents Bush, as well as appearances by close Reagan associates like Edwin Meese. But you won’t see a hot-button presence like Palin.
