A Review of Rendezvous with Destiny: Ronald Reagan and the Campaign That Changed America

If you are concerned, like I am, that the Republican Party has lost its way, and you feel their is no hope for the return to sanity in the America you see slipping away, you have to read Craig Shirley’s

Mr. Shirley has written an epic, taking us back in time when we needed a hero, and the entire Republican establishment was completely oblivious to the urgency and were, as they are now, completely out-of-touch with the American people.

Coming off a loss in 1976, after challenging the incumbent President Ford who lost to Carter, Reagan and his team continued to work toward 1980.  The Republican Party was demoralized after the Nixon mess, but conservatives were still sure, just as we are now, that a principled fight for America would bring her back.  It can be once again.

One  of the main thoughts that continued to enter my mind while reading Shirley’s book, was of the continuous cycles in life on earth.  Here we are, patriots all, almost in anguish over what we see as so many missed opportunities and tone-deaf messages coming from the RNC and every prominent establishment Republican and leadership, and all we have to do is look at history to reveal the answer to our problems.

Sure, we know that conservatism properly articulated is a winner, but we didn’t really see the proof until 1980.  Reagan was a trail-blazer, a man confident of his purpose and his vision, and he inspired millions through communicating with them, not Washington D.C..

Shirley transports you into the feel of the late 1970′s when Jimmy Carter was telling the nation that our best days are over, and gives you a clear picture of what is going on in the world.  In the meantime, he chronicles what was happening to the demoralized GOP, and the establishment’s efforts to rid itself of those conservatives that just keep making them lose elections.  Sound familiar?  I thought so much was familiar in this book, written about a time in politics when I was between 4 and 8 years old, that I found myself renaming the real-life characters in the book with modern actors from the political stage.  I know I’ll never have time to do it, but I think it would be great fun to discuss who would be the equivalent current and former actors, and that just highlights the fact that nothing ever changes, really.  Especially considering the Bush “dynasty,” and yes, Jebby has a brief cameo appearance.

Another takeaway from the book is just how nasty the establishment GOP was and still is.  So many people fighting right now to return the GOP to “its conservative roots,” are reminded that those roots did not really exist without strong Presidential leadership.  This book reminds you that the establishment will not be convinced that conservatism will win.  You waste your time fighting them when you need to convince the people, and in order to do that, you need one, good, articulate, strong conservative populist, who inspires people, not because he sounds right, but because he gets it.

There is no way that I can adequately touch on everything this book taught me, but I’ll leave you with one constant.  It made me proud to stand with Reagan, if only in spirit, as time goes by, and makes me sure that each of us fighting in our own way, are unequivocally doing the right thing.

Time keeps slipping away, and for many of us, the feeling of being alone in our thoughts and our particular fight, is sometimes overwhelming. Reject those who say that times have changed, because politics is about the human condition, and the key to uplifting the human condition is written through time, through experience, and only those who know history, know as Reagan did, that, “It can be done.”

I truly believe that if you read this book, a weight will be lifted from your shoulders.  It’s not just you in the fight, there are millions of us, and we have all made it our solemn duty to return our nation to greatness.  And you will be reinforced in your fight with the knowledge that at any time during the campaign of 1980, it could have gone either way, and that it was the faith that we fought on the side of right that carried us through.

I want to sincerely thank Craig Shirley for sending me an autographed and inscribed book that reads, “To Jen Kuznicki, Keep fighting for your principles.”

We will certainly do so.