He framed everything as about freedom. And he spoke as if he truly believed in freedom. Yes, his actual actions didn't always serve freedom well. But some things are worth preaching, even by hypocrites.
Democrats need to use the freedom frame. For instance, the recent Supreme Court ruling that cops can strip search anyone, on the slightest excuse, is clearly a blow against freedom. We should speak clearly on that.
And if the Supreme Court invalidates the health care bill, that will be a blow against freedom for all Americans who ever might change jobs, or need insurance, or need health care. We need to speak clearly about this as an issue of freedom.
Education is the foundation of freedom. We need for education to be as close to free as possibile, through college. It should be spoken of clearly in terms of freedom.
Prohibition is the antithesis of freedom. It's time for the Democrats to fully embrace ending the pot prohibition, and to frame it as the affront to freedom which it is.
Restrictive voter identification laws are designed to eliminate the freedom to vote for millions. We need to directly confront this as a reversal of freedom, particularly aimed at the descendants of slaves.
Spying on domestic communications insults our freedom. Democrats need to come out as unconditionally opposed to broad-scale electronic spying.
Birth control is a central requirement for individual freedom. Yes, the freedom is sexual. Sex is no excuse for the enslavement of women. Democrats need to frame the Republican party as the diametrically-opposed-to-freedom party. We can't rely on them to do all the work on that themselves.
Workers need to have their freedom to organize preserved and enhanced.
Immigrants deserve a fair chance at freedom, too.
We need to emphasize, alongside Reagan, that American is exceptional precisely to the degree that we are an exceptionally free nation. Republicans are threatening to continue on their path of destroying our exceptional freedoms, which in betrayal of Reagan's legacy, they have embraced as their central mission.
(Yes, I know Reagan began his campaign in Philladelphia, MS because he wanted to appeal to the sons and daughters of Conferderate slavers. I'm talking about the positive side in his rhetoric, not the evil in his acts.)