"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"
About this Quote
Teeter’s line is polling-speak with a politician’s instinct for turning a liability into a permission slip. The surface fact is awkward: “only about half” of voters claim real knowledge of Reagan or his agenda. In most settings, that’s a warning light. Teeter’s pivot is the tell: the people who do know him - specifically Republicans - “have a very positive perception.” The sentence is designed to reframe ignorance as opportunity. If unfamiliarity is widespread, the campaign can still define the candidate; if familiarity correlates with approval inside the base, then the product tests well where it matters first.
The subtext is strategic segmentation. Teeter quietly narrows the “we” to Republicans, signaling that the initial target isn’t national consensus but party consolidation. Knowledge is treated less like civic virtue and more like an exposure metric: the more you’ve seen, the more you like. That implies Reagan’s image is working as branding - a personality and a promise - even if the policy package remains hazy to many voters.
Context matters: Reagan’s rise depended on converting a media-ready persona into political meaning, especially amid post-Vietnam distrust and economic anxiety. Teeter’s phrasing anticipates the modern campaign logic where “what he stands for” can lag behind “how he makes you feel” without derailing momentum. It’s a reassurance to insiders: the base is already sold, and the undecided aren’t hostile, just unformed. That’s not democratic romance; it’s marketing realism, delivered with the calm authority of a man reading the room through crosstabs.
The subtext is strategic segmentation. Teeter quietly narrows the “we” to Republicans, signaling that the initial target isn’t national consensus but party consolidation. Knowledge is treated less like civic virtue and more like an exposure metric: the more you’ve seen, the more you like. That implies Reagan’s image is working as branding - a personality and a promise - even if the policy package remains hazy to many voters.
Context matters: Reagan’s rise depended on converting a media-ready persona into political meaning, especially amid post-Vietnam distrust and economic anxiety. Teeter’s phrasing anticipates the modern campaign logic where “what he stands for” can lag behind “how he makes you feel” without derailing momentum. It’s a reassurance to insiders: the base is already sold, and the undecided aren’t hostile, just unformed. That’s not democratic romance; it’s marketing realism, delivered with the calm authority of a man reading the room through crosstabs.
Quote Details
| Topic | Knowledge |
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