While only about half of the voters feel they know very much about Reagan or what he stands for the Republicans who do have a very positive perception of him.

I am involved with politics today because of the inspiration I received from Ronald Reagan.

The days when the words 'Hollywood actor' framed Ronald Reagan like bunny fingers as an ID tag and an implied insult seem far-off and quaint: nearly everybody in politics - candidate consultant pundit and Tea Party crowd extra alike - is an actor now a shameless ham in a hoked-up reality series that never stops.

Four years of Jimmy Carter gave us two titanic Reagan landslides peace and prosperity for eight blessed years - and even a third term for his feckless vice president George H.W. Bush.

I challenge anybody to say that I wouldn't know how to approach foreign policy because unlike some of the other people I at least have a foreign policy philosophy which is an extension of the Reagan philosophy. Peace through strength and my philosophy is peace through strength and clarity.

For example I spent a lot of time with Reagan both before he ran for governor and when he was running for president. As a print reporter without the cameras I was able to really test the quality of their minds and their knowledge base.

President Reagan was a leader at a time when the American people most needed leadership. He outlined a vision that captured the imagination of the free world a vision that toppled the Communist empire and freed countless millions.

While many of us never knew Ronald Reagan personally we felt close to him because we shared his lighthearted sense of humor admired his uncommon virtue and were moved by his remarkable wisdom.

From Jefferson to Jackson to Lincoln to FDR to Reagan every great president inspires enormous affection and enormous hostility. We'll all be much saner I think if we remember that history is full of surprises and things that seemed absolutely certain one day are often unimaginable the next.

I think Ronald Reagan was one of the great presidents period not just recently. I thought he had the demeanor. I thought he had the bearing. I thought he had the thought process.