This past weekend, the 2012 travel season started with our annual trip to the Reagan Library. The weather was warm and sunny, though we faced pretty fierce Santa Ana winds. The conference went well, and the trip overall was smooth. There was something very emotional about seeing the Library--and I only did a cursory walk through this time--but seeing the President's speeches really resonated. It's an election year, and it was all the more clear that there is no Ronald Reagan in this race. There is no clearly conservative candidate, no well spoken eloquent Republican leader out there. Re-watching his Pointe du Hoc and Challenger speeches...well, wow. And seeing President Bush's funeral remarks, where he mentioned that "some very fine days are behind" us with Reagan's passing....well, wow. So true, so true.
Maybe we will get another Reagan in this lifetime. Sure, there is some revisionist history out there, and yes, the President was not flawless. But that moral clarity and strength of purpose is really missing today amongst all of the candidates. It's certainly not there with Gingrich. I think Santorum comes closest, but he is not long for this race. The trip to the Library was a fitting reminder that there is something more out there, and that once in a generation candidate that captures Americans can be found again. Just not in 2012.
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