Republican groupthink:
Disagreement: "Sad."
Pleading for stem cell research when the GOP rejects it: "A cute little story."
Speaking his mind about stem cell research: "Damaging the party."
To GOP, He's Dishonoring His Father
Affronted Republicans scramble to discredit Ron Reagan's scheduled speech on embryonic stem-cell research at the Democratic convention.
Ron Reagan, the late president's 46-year-old son, plans to use the global platform of the Democratic National Convention to endorse embryonic stem-cell experiments, an area of research that some think his father would have opposed but which his mother supports.
"I think his speech is a cute little story for convention coverage, but I don't think it's the sort of thing that will influence any voters," said Gary Bauer, a conservative activist and domestic policy advisor to President Reagan.
Summing up a sentiment widely held among conservative groups, Wendy Wright of Concerned Women for America called the planned public appearance "sad."
Conservatives remember the younger Reagan's affinity for flustering his family — dropping out of Yale in 1976 to join the Joffrey Ballet, writing articles for Playboy magazine and professing atheism.
"He is seen as someone who didn't hesitate to embarrass his family," one conservative leader remarked, reluctant to publicly criticize any member of the Reagan clan.
"Ron Jr. has either allowed himself to be used or he's knowingly partaking in something whose purpose is to damage the party his father spent all of his adult political life in," Bauer said.
