It's not that politicians today harken back to the Reagan policies or governance. It's that he personified a forward-looking, can-do conservatism. Trump personifies a dark, vitriolic negativism. It's the “American carnage” of Trump's inaugural speech versus the “shining city on the hill,” the Gipper's favorite description of the country. Lou Cannon, the definitive Reagan biographer and journalist extraordinaire, says the contrast between these two presidents is stark: “Trump is Reagan in reverse. He has destroyed the sense of optimism and confidence” conveyed by the 40th president. For me this isn't revisionism. I believe some of Reagan's domestic policies were deeply flawed, often rewarding the undeserving rich and insensitive to the struggles of many Americans. His Justice Department was almost as bad as Trump's — until Dick Thornburgh was tapped in the final months. The Reagan legacy on the domestic front is thin. But as Cannon has so eloquently written, Reagan's brand was a positive, affirmative conservatism, even if you disagreed with the policies. For a quarter century after the Gipper left office, candidates — from state legislative races to Congress to presidential elections — identified as Reagan Republicans. John McCain and Mitt Romney, the two GOP nominees before Trump, during their campaigns were self-styled Reaganites.