NEWS AND OPINION:
Noted presidential historian and acclaimed biographer Craig Shirley has completed his sixth book on Ronald Reagan. It’s titled “The Search for Reagan: The Appealing Intellectual Conservatism of Ronald Reagan” and will be published Tuesday by Post Hill Press.
“In 2024, practically no political figure has an approval rating above 50% — but in 1984 President Ronald Reagan won re-election by carrying forty nine of fifty states. And when he left the Oval Office he had an unheard of 73% approval rating. Why?” Mr. Shirley wrote in a statement shared with Inside the Beltway.
The answer is evident in the writing.
“The book is a deep study of the true story of Reagan and race, his dealings with Soviet president Mikhail Gorbachev, and the attempted ban on gay public school teachers who were in California in 1978, his work as a labor leader, his faith, his dealings with communist provocateurs in Hollywood, and other controversies and conflicts which arose in his life,” said advance notes for the book.
“Reagan’s old friend and aide Marty Anderson once told me he estimated Reagan’s IQ at 175. Anderson would know. He had all sorts of Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Ivy League advanced degrees,” Mr. Shirley also noted in his statement.
“While President Ronald Reagan was a once in a lifetime leader — one who was distinctively able to communicate his ideals so singularly, and motivate an entire country from a place of hope and freedom. It does not mean that our current leaders can’t try to emulate him,” he said. Mr. Shirley, by the way, is already at work on a book about former President Donald Trump’s bid for reelection in 2024.
More on that in the future.
BE PREPARED
“President Kamala Harris? Ready or not, here she comes!” writes Saul Anuzis, former chairman of the Michigan Republican Party and founder of Saulsnews.com, a news site.
“Democrats and Republicans are already privately talking about invoking the 25th Amendment to remove President Biden from office. The only question is this: which Democrat will be the first to go public, and when does Biden’s Cabinet take action?” Mr. Anuzis asked in a short news brief released Sunday.
He has a prediction about the current U.S. vice president.
“Kamala Harris is eagerly waiting in the wings. The challenge for her is the fact that many in her own party do not believe she would be a good president, let alone a good candidate for president. So, the question becomes: has she developed a strong enough political machine to withstand a convention challenge from other Democrats who would like to replace her?” Mr. Anuzis asks.
IVY COVERED HALLS
“Yale University faculty and staff overwhelmingly supported Democrats and causes associated with the left in 2023,” writes Michael Duke, a correspondent for Campus Reform, a student-written news and opinion site.
He noted that over 90% of political donations made by Yale University professors and other employees in 2023 went to Democrat candidates and interest groups like ActBlue and Emily’s List.
The donors contributed a total of approximately $200,000, Mr. Duke said, citing a new study released Jan. 31 by the Yale Daily News, which happens to be the nation’s oldest college daily newspaper.
“These findings form part of a longer trend, with Yale Daily News showing that Yale faculty’s financial support for Democrat politicians and affiliated causes has consistently eclipsed that for Republicans since at least 2000,” Mr. Duke wrote.
“In 2020, for example, Yale faculty gave roughly $2.7 million to Democrats compared to approximately $80,000 for Republicans, meaning that around 97 percent of all their spending that year went to Democrats, the publication demonstrated,” he said, also noting that the beneficiaries included President Biden and Rep. Nancy Pelosi, California Democrat.
STILL ON THE MOVE
She is still a presence in the Palmetto State.
Republican presidential hopeful Nikki Haley has planned a “South Carolina” swing on Monday and Tuesday which indeed courts voters where they live.
She has five stops — in Laurens, Elgin, Bamberg, Bluffton, and Summerville — which include visits to a Harley Davidson dealer, a public park dedicated to military veterans, an elegant event space and a country club.
Ms. Haley, a former South Carolina governor, is calling this her “Beast of the Southeast” bus tour. And her plan, according to a statement released by her campaign on Saturday, is “to barnstorm South Carolina in the final two weeks of the primary and meet as many voters as possible.”
A FOCUS ON UNITAS
Still interested in football news? Pennsylvania-based Hunt Auctions and National Football League (NFL) Auction collaborated at Super Bowl LVIII to host the 17th Annual Super Bowl Live Auction event.
The auction featured over 1,000 football-related items which included memorabilia from the personal collection of Pro Football Hall of Fame quarterback Johnny Unitas of the Baltimore Colts.
Here’s what a few of those items went for: His 1970 Colts Super Bowl V championship ring sold for $258,500 while his 1958 Colts NFL Championship ring fetched $152,750.
“Iconic Johnny Unitas professional model high top cleats” from the 1970s sold for $27,025, and a Unitas 1979 Football Hall of Fame Induction ring sold for $38,175. Meanwhile, his 1967 NFL Most Valuable Player award — the Jim Thorpe Memorial Trophy — went for $64,625.
The proceeds will benefit NFL Auction charities.
POLL DU JOUR
• 67% of U.S. adults say “most members of Congress” do not deserve to be reelected; 68% of Republicans, 71% of independents and 63% of Democrats agree.
• 73% of men and 62% of women also agree.
• 24% overall say most members of Congress deserve to be reelected; 25% of Republicans, 20% of independents and 30% of Democrats agree.
• 22% of men and 26% of women also agree.
• 9% don’t know or refused to answer the question; 7% of Republicans, 9% of independents and 8% of Democrats agree.
• 5% of men and 13% of women also agree.
SOURCE: A Gallup poll of 890 registered U.S. voters conducted by telephone Jan. 2-22 and released Feb. 9.
• Follow Jennifer Harper on X @HarperBulletin.
• Jennifer Harper can be reached at jharper@washingtontimes.com.