The Cowboy Way
George Allen assures “The Hill” he is super busy these days, so busy the former Virginia Governor, Senator and one time Heir to the Reagan Legacy isn’t running for office anytime soon. How does he fill his days? His Good Government Action Fund is a Virgina state PAC, but good government fans will have to wait until July to know how much he’s raised.
Allen’s other task is as the “Reagan Ranch Presidential Scholar” with the Young America’s Foundation. Allen’s extensive work playing cowboy may finally blossom in the role, but what’s YAF?
The conservative training operation bailed the Reagans out after his presidency when they bought his California ranch for $4.5 million. This after Governor Pete Wilson couldn’t pull off buying it as a state park with money from the feds.
The Reagans had asked for $6 million, and the ranch had sat on the market more than a year. The YAF paints a heroic picture of themselves “saving” the ranch in a desperate moment not unlike the Gipper’s “just in time” descent on Grenada.
YAF appears to use the ranch as a fund raising come-on, offering brief visits for the faithful while conducting most of their operations in a Santa Barbara building dubbed the “Reagan Ranch Center.” They’ve assembled ranch relics for reverent viewing, and yes, there is a piece of the Berlin Wall! The YAF website is larded with hushed descriptions of the ranch’s and Reagan’s modesty, while assuring that History Was Made there. Did you know Canadian Prime Minister Brian Mulroney was a visitor?
Will the public ever get to walk the Path He Trod? Let’s hear from Marilyn Fisher, Ranch Curator: “We would love to open the Ranch to the general public, but the county must first make significant improvements to the road leading up to the Ranch.” Leaving aside the spectacle of these freedom loving individuals waiting for a government handout, this would appear unlikely since it was opposition to access that helped kill the state park idea.
Ruddy or blotchy?
