https://www.cbr.com/michael-j-fox-alex-p-keaton-never-maga-republican-family-ties/
1980s film and TV star Michael J. Fox, of Family Ties fame, says his Republican character Alex P. Keaton would never follow MAGA today.
Funnily enough, Reagan was, quite rightly, perceived to be very right-wing at the time, and it's easy to forget that his tax and regulation-slashing, free-market championing doctrine, was also accompanied by the rise of the 'Moral Majority' and social conservatives, but, tbf, I always saw Keaton as a fiscal conservative/libertarian, and I strongly doubt he'd want anything to do with white Christian nationalism, and the idiocy of the post-Tea Party GOP (not that I've ever been a fan of the party, at least not in any of its post-1960s iterations; I mean, obviously, circa 1850s/60s, I'd be a staunch Republican).
shareAlways think these "but would Hank Hill vote for Trump?" kind of things are a bit silly. The beauty of a fictional character who hasn't appeared for many years is that you don't have to worry about such things.
shareWell, you know, 74,223,975 Americans (i.e. nearly a quarter of the US population) are such *complete* and *irredeemable* monsters, that it's impossible to compare any human-being, real or fictional, to them... 🙄🤦♂️
shareAlex P. Keaton was, like Archie Bunker, a liberal's idea of what a conservative was. The writers who created them, and wrote lines for them were liberals, and the actors who uttered those lines were liberals too. They were good writers (and actors), so they got some things right, of course, but they also employed a lot of stereotypes.
A hypothetical "real" Alex P. Keaton would, I imagine, have responded to Trump very much the way I, a lifelong conservative did. I did not vote for him in 2016, because I saw him as a huckster and an opportunist. His personal history did not lead me to believe he would be a very trustworthy champion of the policies favored by conservatives. But his presidency surprised me with its truly solid policy successes. So in 2020, despite being thoroughly exasperated with Trump's personal flaws and the petty drama he creates, I did vote for him -- I knew that A) Biden was utterly incompetent (his performance in office has confirmed -- indeed surpassed -- my worst fears), and B) I understood that Biden's character was every bit as low as Trump's, if not lower; he just has a far more affable, likeable public persona.
Trump's behavior since losing the 2020 election, however, has disappointed me gravely. I would reluctantly vote for him in 2024 if he got the nomination, because I am honestly not sure the country can survive another four years of the current administration's incompetence, but it would be a definite case of choosing the lesser of two evils, and I don't want Trump on the GOP ticket.
The Republican Party leaders don't want him on the ticket either. They're afraid all his baggage is going to come back and bite all of them.
shareGood post and described my feelings entirely. Only I cannot vote for Trump again because I fear that if he wins, he will want to burn things to the ground and make it all about his vindication and getting retribution rather than on self-sacrifice and service to the country
shareCurrent administration’s incompetence? So sponsoring and passing over 40 legislative bills, appointing over 130 federal judges, creating over 10 million jobs, achieving the lowest unemployment rate in over 50 years, avoiding a debt ceiling catastrophe by striking a deal in a contentious divided government - all while recovering from global covid shutdowns is incompetent?
shareYes staggering incompetence. Creating a humanitarian crisis at the border by throwing it wide open. The pullout in Afghanistan being the worst military blunder in US history since Pearl Harbor and the loss of our army in the Philippines in 1941/42. The politicization of everything and the most divisive rhetoric I've ever seen from an administration -- after promising to be a unifying figure. I could go on, but there isn't space.
And your "accomplishments" are nothing of the kind. According to economist Nela Richardson “The economy – and this is an important point – hasn’t added one single job from the 2019 high watermark. Not one. All the jobs that we have seen gained are recovered jobs that were lost. We are not yet producing new jobs.”
“In fact, we’re still about nearly four million jobs short. So these wage gains are coming on top of a shrinking workforce, and it’s not being fueled by productivity enhancements.”
And the debt ceiling deal... there was only a standoff in the first place because Biden is a typical tax and spend Democrat, who wants to spend more money we don't have at a time when we're borrowing 40 cents for every dollar we spend, and we're already over 30 trillion in debt.
Biden is easily the most incompetent president of the last century, and I believe he'll give Franklin Pierce and James Buchanan a run for their money at title of worst US president ever.
AND I might ass, some things NEED "burned down", like the weaponized FBI, and Dept of Justice, the IRS, who knows what else.
At least at the national level.
Darren--you are too smart for most of the room. What you've written will sail far over their heads.
shareAlex liked education and facts. he did not like propaganda. He also valued family highly abandoning a college interview when Mallory was hurt, even though he was leaving an 'opportunity to get ahead'
He helped his boss when they were drunk vs taking advantage of her in the hotel room.
He DID find something which Nick wanted to relate to in order to successfully teach him so he could earn his high school GED.
And he was very offended that a realtor was not behaving ethically when family friends who were African American were attempting to move into the neighborhood and that realtor was not using good business practices including letting them pay for the home they wanted.
These are why he could never be a MAGA republican he does have a conscience and cares about others besides himself. it does ultimately bother him if other people are hurt during business. He likes money but even for him, money is really not the 'only thing" after all.
I would imagine he might see some elements of Trump that does impress him though. The idea of the non professional politician standing up to right the things they see as wrong etc. Trump being a businessman would also have impressed him, Trump at least in the 80's may have been a role model of sorts for a young aspiring money maker.
As far as MJF saying Alex wouldn't support Trump well, that is just MJF toeing the line and espousing his own beliefs.
Alex idolized people who were politicians before they became president. Trump was in the media in the 1980's but Alex never mentions him, It's either Nixon (who is actually mentioned the most) or Reagan. So no he would not support Trump as president.
And the other issue is that Alex stands up for his parents against an abusive teacher. He rejects the letter of recommendation that he had previously wanted. he wanted to keep his self-respect (said in the script). Alex decides family is more important than letting his teacher verbally/emotionally abuse his parents. Although he held several views different from his parents, he still loved them very much.
He never would have only thought of himself and what he could get out of a deal regardless of what that deal was or who it hurt in the process.
As said above Alex was written as how liberals perceived conservatives. Nixon pushed for wage & price controls during the early 1970's which definitely was not a conservative position nor one Alex would likely embrace. Quite a number of conservatives were aghast at Nixon going to China in 1972 and talking detente with the USSR. Nixon looking for an exit to the Vietnam War did not endear him to a number of conservatives. Alex was never much for Mantra's but he could find favor with a number of things Trump did. Expanded domestic production of fossil fuels leading to low fuel prices is something Alex would be in support of. The same with stronger borders.
shareALEX P. KEATON DOES NOT FIT WITH MODERN POLITICS AT ALL...HE WAS A DECENT PERSON WHO CARED ABOUT OTHERS...WAS ABLE TO ADMIT WHEN HE WAS WRONG...AND THOUGHT WITH HIS BRAIN AND HIS HEART NOT HIS PARTY AFFILIATION.
shareHow much did the Biden campaign pay Fox to make this announcement?
shareParkinson's has affected his Judgement then if he feels Biden's the better alternative
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