The fact that almost every Republican candidate wants to invoke the Reagan name as the centerpiece of their own presidential campaign demonstrates more about the lack of their own identity and selective memory than anything else.

When claiming to be an individual leader with your own qualities and personal merits, why would you seek to convince voters that you are someone else, in this case, Ronald Reagan?

In short, it’s because many Republicans, frustrated by less than Reaganesque leadership from the Bush family dynasty, remember all the good things about the last great leader of the Republican Party and long for those days.

But is it real, or even a good idea?

Frankly, none of the Republican candidates are Ronald Reagan. In part, this is because there was only one Ronald Reagan and there will never be another. But also, Reagan led at a different point in history and today’s challenges are somewhat different than those Reagan faced. The nation was smarter and less divided than it is today. Running against a disastrous Carter administration, the choices were much more obvious.

However, selective memory also plays a role in why some voters seek another Reagan and some candidates hope you will believe that they are Reagan reincarnate.

The Real Reagan Record

Most Republicans seem to have forgotten the total Reagan record, selectively remembering all the good things he was able to accomplish, overlooking the fact that he too was a less than perfect conservative.

Reagan spent most of his life as a moderate Democrat. It was only when the Democrat Party left Reagan and many other old Democrats, opting for a new age Democratic Socialism and blame America first negativity, did Reagan become a Republican by default.

Throughout most of his life, Reagan was pro-choice on abortion. He became pro-life late in life, as President. He grew the size of the federal government budget at a rate never accomplished by any other president, before or since. He was our nation’s biggest deficit spender. He is the only US president to ever pass real amnesty for illegal aliens. If he ran on this record today, he would be no more popular among conservatives than any other candidate is today.

Yet despite it all, he remains my favorite president as well, because of all the good things he accomplished at the same time. The point is this. There is no such thing as the perfect political candidate. The closest thing America has ever experienced to the perfect politician is Bill Clinton. Do you consider the term "perfect politician" to be a compliment? If you do, you’re not a conservative.

Last, despite the disaster of the Carter years and the overwhelming popularity of Ronald Reagan, even Reagan only won with 50.7% of the popular vote in 1980. Even Reagan would have an uphill battle to win in America circa 2008.

No Reagan in 2008

Republican voters must come to grips with the reality that nobody named Reagan is running for office in 2008. They also need to be realistic in the fact that even if Reagan were running today, he would not be anymore popular than most of the other Republican candidates today.

The question isn’t which candidate is most like Reagan, but rather which candidate most represents only those things Republicans still love about Reagan. His ability to communicate with the people at large and the world. His strong backbone in the face of any form of opposition, be it the Soviet Union or Tip O’Neill across the aisle.

His firm love for fundamental American principles and decent values. His belief in a firm unapologetic foreign policy which all American leftists and third world thugs referred to as his "war-mongering" attitude and his insistence upon a strong American military second to none in the world. His "trust but verify" policy towards enemies of freedom around the globe and his willingness to call evil by its rightful name.

This is the kind of leader America is looking for again and this is why American voters are looking for another Ronald Reagan. Not because he was perfect, but because he was best for the times.

This is also why most Republican candidates hope to convince voters that they are Ronald Reagan, but most of them are not even close.

One Leader Ready for these Times, in the tradition of Reagan

He is the one Republican candidate not talking about Ronald Reagan, but rather his own beliefs, policy positions and core values. He is the one candidate who was drafted by American conservatives to represent the principles that have not been represented in Washington since Reagan.

He is the one candidate who did not blow his campaign war chest trying to win in Iowa, New Hampshire or Michigan, where only candidates willing to pander to leftist voters can win primaries or caucuses. He is the one candidate who understood from the beginning that NO conservative president has ever been chosen by Iowa, New Hampshire or Michigan, but rather by South Carolina and beyond.

Fred Thompson has received the endorsements of the National Right to Life groups across the country because he has a perfect 100% pro-life record as a former Senator and as a man. He has spent a lifetime as a supporter of both First and Second Amendment rights. He has spent a lifetime investigating and prosecuting government corruption and working to reduce the size and scope of the federal government as a true federalist in the tradition of our founding fathers.

And yes, he was an unlikely actor, just like Reagan, who American leftists also referred to as "just an actor hoping to play President."

Leftists and Reagan

Leftists hated Reagan, just as much as they hate Bush, maybe even more. They called him "a cowboy" – a "war-monger" – a "fool on foreign policy" and "dangerous" due to his heavy handed willingness to confront evil wherever he found it, on the other side of the world, or across the political aisle. The very things they say about Bush today, they said about Reagan then.

Today, even many Democrats admit that Reagan was right on his foreign and economic policies. But back then, they called him all the things they call Bush today.

South Carolina

Mike Huckabee is a good man with good intentions, but he is not prepared to lead the free world at a time of great turmoil and threat towards American interests here and abroad. The fact that he feels Bush foreign policies (like Reagan’s) are too heavy handed, "arrogant" and "confrontational" tells us that he does not understand current conditions in the world, or Reagan’s doctrine of an unapologetic firm stance against all evils.

Fred Thompson must demonstrate the fundamental difference between himself and Huckabee in this regard. Thompson is exactly like Reagan in terms of how to deal with evil in our world. Like Reagan, Thompson is also very firm on free enterprise and free trade as the solution to economic challenges. Thompson stands for less taxation, regulation and litigation, as they way to grow a strong economy, just like Reagan.

But unlike Reagan, he has always been pro-life. He is a pure federalist, opposed to bigger government and for reducing the size, scope and expense of government. Unlike Reagan, he is fully opposed to any form of amnesty for those who have broken our laws and seek a free ride to American citizenship.

Thompson is not Reagan, he’s better than Reagan

Thompson is right everywhere Reagan was right. But he is also right in the areas where Reagan was wrong. That’s why Thompson was drafted by conservative voters. That’s why Thompson is endorsed by the most conservative organizations in the country. That’s why Thompson had no chance of winning in Iowa, New Hampshire or Michigan and why Thompson is focusing his entire campaign on South Carolina, where the next Republican nominee is likely to be chosen.

And that’s why I support Fred Thompson for President of the United States.

Thompson is not Ronald Wilson Reagan and neither are any of the other candidates. But Thompson alone is strong where Reagan was strong and strong even where Reagan was weak.

Thompson is not Reagan, but he has the potential to be better than Reagan!

He’s not perfect and neither was Reagan. Republicans need to study Thompson closely.