Conservatives absolutely adore the late Ronald Reagan, which explains why Republicans Against 8 invoke the Gipper in their new ad against Proposition 8, a ballot measure looking to overturn California’s gay marriage.
The minute-long spot first highlights how Reagan, while Governor of California, opposed to the Briggs Initiative – a measure that would have banned gays from teaching in the Golden State’s public schools. That pro-gay stance, says the narrator, can be directly compared to current California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger’s pledge to vote against Proposition 8.
If Reagan can’t woo the right, no one can!
Phil
Reagan was a crappy president, and I hope that he does NOT woo the vote, because that would mean nostalgia trumped history. (Might equals right? Pft.)
LA Guy
“Bad for business”? There are a myriad of reasons to shoot this prop down, but I would have hoped that, oh, “Equal Rights” would have been on the top of the list. Whatever it takes.
Phil
Whoa, I totally interpreted the ad wrong. (This is what you get for not listening to republican’s ads. >_<)
Smokey Martini
Arnold: “I will always be there to fight against that because… [and cut]”
This ad is shoddily done. That quotation above could have been Arnold’s response to ANYTHING. There’s no indication that he was actually speaking against Prop 8, since we only get the first part of his statement. *sigh* I wouldn’t be surprised if Arnold charges the Republicans Against 8 of misquoting him.
Nevertheless, an A for effort.
Woof
I have been saying it all week VOTE VOTE VOTE
crazylove
Arnold, to his credit, has been against Prop 8. However, Reagan is the father of modern social conservatism. The idea that he would have been against Prop 8 is silly.
seitan-on-a-stick
Yeah, Queerty are riding the stupid bus again (We New Yorkers are not proud of these wretched queers) Hmmm, Ronald Reagan is dead! YAY! Ronald Reagan was a Genocidal Fuckhead! TRUE! And tell the Gipper to take Nancy to Hell with you and the Bush Klan and the Evil GOP who want to destroy our Gay Families!
Seriously, Democrats Vote November 4th!
Republicans, Vote November 5th
M Shane
Invoking Reagan because of his support on a completely different issue is pretty far fetched. As was stated above, Reagan did more to revese the interests of liberalism than anyone.
These L.C greaseballs seem to be retarded if they can’t see the corelation of economic
injustice and social division. Reagan did as much to set America in a downward flush than any other ratshit conservative
crazylove
I don’t have a problem with Queerty being bipartisan in seeking support against Prop 8. There are some moderate gay Republicans who should be a part of this fight too.
I just wish Queerty’s writers would show some level of political knowledge while discussing political issues. Its a little like reading political discussions by Perez Hilton. Just because we are gay doesn’t mean we should be ignorant and devoid of actual thought.
Some of these posts by Queerty are just lazy writing and lack anything approaching critical analysis.
Like I said above, we should laud Arnold because, yes, he has been against 8. As have other Republicans.
However, to just accept an ad that includes Reagan in it without realizing the absurdity of including Reagan given he was behind the rise of such orgs as the Moral Majority and the Christian Coalition gaining tracking within the Republican party is retarded to put it mildly. These are the very forces we are fighting now no matter what revisionist history pretends that Reagan’s views ended in 1978 rather than continued well into the 1980s and became increasingly reactionary.
andy_d
If Ahhnold is so concerned about our rights, why did he VETO legislation passed by the California legislature giving us the right to marry?
crazylove
Because his right flank would have skewered him for it. You shouldnt expect politicians to not be politicians. To expect this is naive at best, and down right pathetic at worse.
Christopher
my father is a California Republican and no matter how many times he says things about how maybe we do need more financial regulations, and how the religious right are a “bunch of wackos”, he will never connect the dots and will continue to worship Reagan – forever. My father’s assessment of prop.8 is that it’s “cruel”, and I think that’s pretty damning. I guess the point is to go with what works.
crazylove
Oh, I understand why they are using this imagery. It works for Republicans. But that doesn’t mean that Queerty gets a pass for not pointing this out. That’s my only point about the Reagan imagery.
Greg
Ronald Reagan was NOT the governor of California in 1978 when the Briggs Initiative was taking place. He was the governor from 1967 until 1975. Jerry Brown was the governor of California in 1978.
Yes, Ronald Reagan opposed the Briggs Initiative, but only as the FORMER governor of California. Even pro-gay ads can be misleading.