Editor's note: We understand there might be a visitor of some note to this state today. We hope he has a good time, and thaws out after all those Iowa stops. We're not sure if he reads newspapers, but here's hoping his supporters still do. And can contrast what our visitor might say today to Ronald Reagan's style. For example, The Gipper never, ever, ever, said this:
"I could stand in the middle of Fifth Avenue and shoot somebody and I wouldn't lose voters."
"All of the women on The Apprentice flirted with me--consciously or unconsciously. That's to be expected."
"He's a war hero 'cause he was captured. I like people that weren't captured, okay?"
"Look at that face! Would anyone vote for that? Can you imagine that, the face of our next president? I mean, she's a woman, and I'm not s'poseta say bad things, but really folks, come on. Are we serious?"
"I never attacked him on his looks, and believe me, there's plenty of subject matter right there."
"I'm on a lot of [magazine] covers. I think maybe more than almost any supermodel. I think more than any supermodel."
"I am not surprised the dishonest, irrelevant and totally failing Club for Growth has resorted to attacking the definitive front-runner, especially after I refused to contribute to their pathetic group."
"I'm looking at guys like Marco Rubio, who has the worst voting record in the United States Senate. And [he's a] young guy--although he sweats more than any young person I've ever seen in my life. I've never seen a guy down water like he downs water. They bring it in in buckets for this guy."
"I don't think [people born in the United States, who have immigrant parents] have American citizenship. And if you speak to some very, very good lawyers--and I know some will disagree, but many of them agree with me--you're going to find they do not have American citizenship. We have to start a process where we take back our country. Our country is going to hell."
"I've gotten along with politicians my whole life. I've made a fortune on politicians. Nobody knows politicians better than I do. I get along with politicians."
"It has not been easy for me, it has not been easy for me. And you know I started off in Brooklyn, my father gave me a small loan of a million dollars."
"Actually, I think Ben Carson is lower energy than Jeb [Bush], if you want to know the truth."
"I mean, Seventh-Day Adventist, I don't know about. I just don't know about."
"He'll hit back. Everybody hits back. In life, everybody hits back."
"I don't understand Iowa because, frankly, I just left and we had tremendous crowds and tremendous enthusiasm. And, frankly, even to be tied, I'm a little surprised."
"[Jeb Bush is] not doing too well. And he has been defined. Now I have to define a couple of other people. And it should be easier, actually."
To supporters at a rally: "I used to use Jeb Bush . . . but who should I use? Who do you want me to use? I can use any of them. You want me to use Rubio? How about I'll use Hillary? How about her?"
"I never forgive."
And when asked what he thought about God, Ronald Reagan never once told the Christian Broadcast Network this, while looking over an oceanfront golf course Donald Trump had acquired on the West Coast:
"Well, I say God is the ultimate. You know, you look at this. Here we are on the Pacific Ocean. How did I ever own this? I bought it 15 years ago. I made one of the great deals they say, ever. I have no more mortgage on it as I will certify and represent to you. And I was able to buy this and make a great deal. That's what I want to do for this country. Make great deals. We have to, we have to bring it back, but God is the ultimate. I mean, God created this, and here's the Pacific Ocean right behind us. So nobody, no thing, no--there's nothing like God."
Editorial on 02/03/2016