Both moves blurring the line between principle, and the party which they purported to represent.

Reagan would not have compromised to a lie, and would not have compromised to an act so obviously anti-American as the bank bailouts.

The reason Reagan brings about the current feelings of goodwill, goes further to support the very ideals which he lived to, and promoted vigorously throughout his tenure.  The reason Ronald Wilson Reagan reached into the hearts of so many Americans without regard to their political ideology, had more to do with the way he lived his life, his integrity, and whom he was.

Whom he was.

In my view, the life of our 40th president was not that which often accompanies political aspiration. It was not one that frequently demonstrated a contempt for the values which he espoused.  Ronald Reagan attempted to live his life instead in a way that he identified as proper and principled.  In a manner that reflected consistency and predictability.  The very predictability that engendered trust in  his congressional relationships, and the very predictability that gave proper and heeded warning to the hostage takers in a land far away both geographically, and ideologically.

The knowledge of who this man was, was hardly guessed however.  The very nature of his inescapable tendencies was broadcast ahead of him for years with a consistent message of both conservatism, and backbone.   His 'bold colored' banners flying long before even the first election that brought him to Washington, as the leader of the free world.   His love for our country every bit as as evident in the time of his service, as his love for his wife Nancy, seen years later in the published diaries which validated the honor which he deserved.

Ronald Wilson Reagan presented best in his direct conversations with the people of the country, often reminded us of who we are as a people and what has made us great.  His stark contrast from the opposing viewpoints of the Democrat party, where he once hung his hat, seen no better than with his view that it is America that was the focus of aspiration.  That it was America as a beacon to the yearning of liberty in those around the world that made us great. That there is, and was, no equal to the United States of America.

The Contrast is stark indeed.