In today’s Los Angeles Times, I’ve got an Op Ed on Sarah Palin’s constant invocations of Ronald Reagan. Every Republican does this, of course, but I argue that Palin invokes Reagan in a uniquely shallow way. In fact, her use of Reagan mirrors the Tea Party’s use of the Founding Fathers, and I suspect my thinking on Palin owes a lot to Jill Lepore’s book about the Tea Party.
It doesn’t hurt that Palin connected all the dots in a recent essay for the National Review:
The Tea Party reminded us that Reaganism is still our foundation. I think the Gipper is smiling down on us today waving the Gadsden Flag.
Craig Fehrman 