Leonard Pitts: Now I know how the Gipper felt

FILE - In this May 24, 1985, file photo, then U.S. President Ronald Reagan works at his desk in the oval office of the White House as he prepares a speech on tax revision. Age has long been an issue for politicians. Reagan faced plenty of questions about his mental abilities when he ran for U.S. president in 1980, and he was just 69 years old. Now Mahathir Mohamad, 92, is Malaysia's newest prime minister. It's been 37 years since Mahathir first had the job, and 15 since he retired from it. (AP Photo/Scott Stewart, File) Once upon a time, you see, I thought I was a little bit conservative. Mind you, I could never side with the right on social justice matters like the treatment of LGBTQ Americans, African-Americans and women, where they have always been irredeemably wrong. But I did agree with them on the importance of fathers and on the need for self-reliance, a strong military and foreign-policy realism. While I support government regulation of business, consumer standards and the environment, I was even willing to listen to conservative complaints about excessive red tape.

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