Why a Cardboard Ronald Reagan Keeps Appearing on Capitol Hill
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ABC Photo Archives/ABC via Getty Images(WASHINGTON) — The chambers of Congress can often seem empty and free of debate, but at least a cardboard cutout of Ronald Reagan can now keep company with the sparse population of lawmakers.
This week, the cutout of the Republican icon, purchased by a communications aide to Rep. Earl Blumenauer, D-Oregon, has been popping up around the Capitol to help Democrats make a point about President Obama’s allegiance to policies Reagan favored.
It’s been a while since Ronald Reagan has been seen on the floor of the House. pic.twitter.com/93pn8z9j5F
— Jeremy Art (@cspanJeremy) December 3, 2014
First, on Wednesday, the cutout stood behind Rep. Blumenauer as he advocated raising the federal gas tax for highway infrastructure spending. Reagan raised gas taxes as president in 1982.
Democrats started to use the cutout as a symbol of double standards and misappropriation, propping it on the House floor to note how Reagan’s support for executive amnesty in 1987 has been whitewashed by Republicans. On Thursday, Rep. Luis Gutierrez, D-Illinois, was spotted on the floor with the prop.
Rep. Blumenauer said he considered the use of the cutout “deadly serious.”
“I think using something that was a little more visual is important to get the point across. A lot of this stuff we’re working on didn’t used to be partisan and stupid,” he told ABC News. “What bothers me is that people don’t look at what the man did and stood for. He wasn’t reflexively against government programs. …To me, he communicated, and he was genuine. And I get the sense that a lot of people are communicating and they’re not genuine.”
According to The Hill, Gutierrez took cues from Blumenauer and grabbed the Gipper’s likeness for his own purposes, saying, “I’m happy that President Barack Obama is following in that great and proud tradition set forward by President Ronald Reagan, that he would rather put families first, the demagoguery and any anti-immigrant policy always last.”
Patrick Maloney, the Blumenauer aide who bought the cutout, thinks Reagan has become an “avatar that provides that litmus test” for Republicans seeking a boost in conservative credentials.
“People are definitely held to different standards depending on the party,” he told ABC News. “It seems to be about who is currently fitting into your ideological purity.”
“Even though he’s this symbol of conservative purity, [Congress was] still able to work in a much more bipartisan fashion,” he added. “The rigidity just wasn’t there.”
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