March 15, 2010 5:01 PM

Ronald Reagan Billboard Appears in Minnesota

By
Brian Montopoli
Topics
In The News
(Credit: hotair.com)

A billboard has appeared in Minnesota featuring a photograph of former President Ronald Reagan and the words, "Remember real hope and change?"

The billboard, first reported by Ed Morrissey at the blog Hot Air, is reminiscent of the "Miss Me Yet?" billboard that appeared in Minnesota last month.

The identity of the person or group behind the Reagan billboard is not yet known; the Bush version was attributed to "a group of small business owners who feel like Washington is against them" and who wanted to remain anonymous.

The billboard stands on I-94 in or near the town of Albertville, outside of Minneapolis. The town is reportedly part of the 6th Congressional District, which is represented in the House by Republican Rep. Michele Bachmann.

Keith Franklin, the owner of Franklin Outdoor Advertising, confirmed the billboard's existence to Hotsheet. "I went by it Friday night and I went by it Sunday night," he said. Franklin said his company owns the billboard and that the company was not disclosing the identity of the person or group that paid for it.

Questions have been raised about whether the photograph of the billboard was photoshopped, in part because the text is so clear and crisp when contrasted with the rest of the image. The small text in the center of the wooden portion of the sign, just below the black outline of the main billboard, for example, is unreadable, even as the rest of the billboard is extremely clear.

One possible explanation, since the billboard does seem to exist, is that the photograph was at some point touched up for clarity.

Update March 16, 11:25 a.m. ET: CBS Station WCCO in Minneapolis/St. Paul caught some video of the billboard, which you can see below:
Local Video from WCCO in Minneapolis/St. Paul

Add a Comment See all 45 Comments
by TimBeasley March 22, 2010 1:08 PM EDT
Gotta love the "Great Communicator!" I'll always remember how great the 80's were, as a young family man, times were certainly better than now. During those years of 1981-89 there was much progress, and most Americans walked a little taller for sure. Personally, as I followed my trade of acting and entertaining, my "President Ronald Reagn" impersonation was always a favorite. I've had a wonderful life of performing as "President Ronald Reagan" coast to coast for special events and corporate functions yearning for those "Reaganomics" to return now for over 20 years. Many have sought me out via Google to appear for their special events. President Ronald Reagan still has the respect and admiration from the majority of milillions and millions of "baby boomers" who know how good it was.
Reply to this comment
by thebob-bob March 17, 2010 1:29 AM EDT
Reagan began the disastrous turn to the right that embraced the fantasy of No regulation, No taxes and No Government. He also should have been impeached for Iran-Contra but he was practically demented with Alzheimer's before he left office.

The beginning of the end of the American Empire.
Reply to this comment
by krusenjames March 16, 2010 3:16 PM EDT
by actornaught March 16, 2010 2:32 PM EDT
by krusenjames March 16, 2010 12:44 PM EDT
...Reagan did was oversee the fall of the Soviet Union....
...

Not at all. This is pure limbaugh myth, just like the false claim that reagan was a conservative.
=====================================================================

I didn't say mastermind, I said oversee. The fall of the USSR was inevitable by that point. Reagan just got to give the final push. Again, stop stereotyping. Your ego is not on the line. Learn to read what's there, not what you expect. If you don't, you'll just keep alienating people.
Reply to this comment
by LogicRules March 16, 2010 2:37 PM EDT
Real and change..yes, the days of Iran-Contra, trickle-down, B-1 Bomber, massive education cuts, rising poverty levels, extended gaps of rich and poor, corporate corruption,the initiation of deregulated media, tax cuts for the wealthy...ah, yes, those were the days
Reply to this comment
by krusenjames March 16, 2010 1:13 PM EDT
christoph415, and remember when Nixon inherited the mess known as the Vietnam war from Kennedy and LBJ?
===================================================================
This started with the French and was picked up by the Eisenhower admin. Kennedy, a cold warrior, carried on, albeit reluctantly. LBJ only proved what we seemed to have forgotten. Raw power alone does not a victory make. Tell that to Cheney and I bet he'll laugh. Kennedy was a sea change of slightly left of center moderates. Reagan the same but to the right.

What we need now is a Roosevelt, not a Lincoln, Kennedy or Reagan.. We've got some nasty "surprises" up the road. "Surprises" we've been talking about since the 70's. When they hit, it won't matter if we're left, right, or in a box by the door and you won't be worried if the rifleman next to you is Democrat or Republican, only if he has any spare ammo. ( a metaphor you might understand.)

And the less said about Nixon, the better off we'll all be.
Reply to this comment
by krusenjames March 16, 2010 12:44 PM EDT
Then you must have been pretty lazy. What he did was get America out of the doldrums of the hangover from the Vietnam War & related college protests (started by democrats you will note) and get us out of the second worst president in history - Jimmy.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

At the time I was working in a "right to work state" supporting a wife and six children. I didn't have time to be lazy. Exhausted, yes. Lazy, no. What Reagan did was oversee the fall of the Soviet Union. That is his positive legacy. What he did to working families was a travesty. Our adventure in Viet Nam started in the Eisenhower Administration, after the French left. Kennedy was stuck with it. He applied Cold War logic. Kennedy was a cold warrior and anti-communist, by the way. I believe history will give W the accolade of worst president. I think Andrew Johnson comes in a close second. You should stop your stereotyping. It only breeds hate...and as we have been told "hate is a four letter word..."
Reply to this comment
by actornaught March 16, 2010 2:32 PM EDT
by krusenjames March 16, 2010 12:44 PM EDT
...Reagan did was oversee the fall of the Soviet Union....
...

Not at all. This is pure limbaugh myth, just like the false claim that reagan was a conservative.
by krusenjames March 16, 2010 12:25 PM EDT
Yes, I might have preffered Jimmy. Too bad there was no option C.

A traveler set upon by highwaymen was left for dead by the roadside. Along came a pharisee, a "godly" man who somehow managed to pass him by. Ditto for the sadducee who came next. Not his problem, I suppose. Then came this Samaritan...

Need more?

"LoWhen you have done it unto the least of these, you have done it unto me..."

Love is a four letter word too. I think too many have forgotten it and embraced the other.

United we stand. I'd pay for yours, if you needed it and I could.

The moral obligation is real. It's just a question of how to pay for it, how to afford it. We manage cell phones and cable tv. I think a healthy America is worth more than those.
Reply to this comment
by actornaught March 16, 2010 12:17 PM EDT
This is hilarious. I'm looking forward to finding out who pulled this prank, especially after the 'miss me yet' wackiness.

Imagine, people missing the days of the Nancy Reagan Administration, too!

Other than the Japanese bankers, that is....
Reply to this comment
by krusenjames March 16, 2010 12:06 PM EDT
No hate on my part, just experience. Reagan and Reaganomiics were bad for this country. A proponent od government being more like business,his policies didn't work, plain and simple. And recent experience has shown that government really isn't the problem. The feds had their $700 hammers, I grant you. But business gave us the $16,000 shower curtain. How's yer Granma's pension? Anyone Madoff with it?
Reply to this comment
by kgmx March 16, 2010 3:07 PM EDT
You clearly are misinformed. You think all the prosperity Bill Clinton enjoyed was his doing? It is the pure fact that trickle down economics worked. Im sure you left wingers will insist it was all Clinton's wisdom.
by Cattzen March 16, 2010 11:58 AM EDT
Weekend at Bernies?
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