From The WSJ, Bill McGurn argues Ronald Reagan looked like a sure-loser at this point in the 1980 campaign.

In The WSJ, Stephen Moore reports Rick Santorum’s argument that he is stronger than Mitt Romney in purple states.

In Forbes, Charles Kadlec suggests government policy, not lack of regulation, caused the housing bubble.

On The Kudlow Report, progressive Jared Bernstein argues Romney will repeat the trickle-down policies that led to recent years’ economic problems:

From Alhambra Partners, Joe Calhoun rebuts Ben Bernanke’s claim that the economy’s performance is not his fault.

On The Street, Ralph Benko defends the gold standard from columnist Gary Weiss.

At TGSN, Ralph Benko features Alan Greenspan’s never-published testimony from the 1981 US Gold Commission.

Stateline reports Art Laffer’s success convincing states to reduce tax rates.

From the C-SPAN archive, US Rep. Jack Kemp (NY) announces his 1987 bid for President. Alan Reynolds comments, “Watch it and compare the current candidates to see what we have lost.”

In The NYT, Bruce Bartlett argues (correctly, IMO) that class warfare sentiment rises when, in recession, conservatives argue for cutting programs for the poor while refusing to raise tax rates on the wealthy. (Of course, the right answer isn’t raising taxes.)