Their View: At least three GOP candidates are making noise
It's interesting, alone, that the site for the first presidential debate among Republican contenders was California and the Reagan Library.
After all, California hasn't voted for a Republican candidate for president since 1988. But just maybe the 10 declared GOP candidates were trying to send a message: The Western spirit, distinguished for being pioneering and popularized in the late 20th century by Ronald Reagan, a celebrated Californian, is alive.
Arnold Schwarzenegger, a former actor, like Reagan, is certainly a pioneer. And also like Reagan, the idol of most Republicans, he too won keys to the governor's mansion in California, a state that is solidly Democratic.
But a big difference for many of the Republicans in the 2008 presidential field, is that, unlike Reagan, who was an ideological conservative, the leading contenders lean more to the center.
Romney, McCain and Giuliani all strayed from GOP support for interceding in the widely publicized case of Terri Schiavo, a brain-damaged Florida woman. And Giuliani went so far as to endorse a woman's right to make a decision on whether to have an abortion.
These three GOP candidates are certainly blazing new trails,,but it's unlikely that they're ones that would please the Gipper.
- The Democrat and Chronicle, Rochester, N.Y.
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