The second Reagan-related problem: generational disconnect.
Ronald Reagan last ran for office in 1984; those 18-year-olds who cast their first ballot for “Morning in America” will turn 50 next year. According to the 2012 U.S. Census, nearly 102 million Americans were age 50 or older three years ago. Politically, they came of age in the Age of Reagan. However, another 103 million Americans in 2012 fell between the ages of 20-45. They’re too young to have voted for Reagan. Where’s the sense in 2016 candidates reciting the greatest hits of the 1980s – firing air-traffic controllers, staring down the Soviets – for a demographic that likely wasn’t paying attention?
For years, Democrats labored under the same challenge of hero-replacement as today’s Republicans. Their avatar: John F. Kennedy. From 1964 to 1992, no post-Camelot Democratic nominee could match JFK for charm, rhetorical firepower or ease in front of a camera (the same assets that served Reagan so well).
A cartoon that ran on the op-ed pages of The Washington Post – ironically, during Reagan’s presidency – underscored the point. “Washingtoon” lampooned the activities of Congressman Bob Forehead, aka “Chairman of the JFK-Look-Alike Caucus.”
How’d the Democrats fill their JFK void? Credit Bill Clinton.
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