A Ronald Reagan Hologram At The Republican Convention? It Almost Happened

When we first heard the rumor of a GOP “mystery guest” on the final night of the convention, many people jokingly suggested it would be a Ronald Reagan hologram. As it turns out, that wasn’t a joke:

Despite some conflicting reports, Yahoo News has learned that a hologram projection of former President Ronald Reagan is in the works and was originally intended to debut outside the halls of the Republican National Convention this week. But its official unveiling has been put on hiatus until later this year or early 2013.

“It wasn’t officially going to be part of the convention,” Tony Reynolds, founder of crowd sourcing website A Kick In Crowd, told Yahoo News in a phone interview Thursday. “It was going to be outside of the convention at the Lakeland Center.”

Reynolds obtained rights to a Reagan speech discussing small businesses and plans to use the hologram to promote the Jumpstart Our Business (JOBS) ACT. He has been working with AV Concepts, one of the companies behind the creation of the Tupac Shakur hologram, which was unveiled at this year’s Coachella Music Festival.

However, Reynolds says he discussed the idea with a number of Republican activists who asked him to delay the project out of concerns it would overshadow Mitt Romney’s acceptance speech.

“At the time he hadn’t chosen Paul Ryan, so I think they were a little worried about his energy,” Reynolds said. “Even in a hologram form I think Reagan’s going to beat a lot of people in terms of communicating.”

Another reason Reynolds said he delayed the unveiling was he didn’t want the hologram to be used for partisan purposes.

Well, duh. What did you think it would be used for?

Frankly, I’m glad the idea was abandoned. There’s something both creepy and cheesy about holographic Presidents showing up at conventions.

FILED UNDER: 2012 Election, US Politics, , , , , ,
Doug Mataconis
About Doug Mataconis
Doug Mataconis held a B.A. in Political Science from Rutgers University and J.D. from George Mason University School of Law. He joined the staff of OTB in May 2010 and contributed a staggering 16,483 posts before his retirement in January 2020. He passed far too young in July 2021.

Comments

  1. bill says:

    how to tick off a liberal in a nano-second!

  2. PJ says:

    So, Republicans won’t get to worship their holographic calf until 2013?

  3. Nixon and Gore do very well as living-heads-in-jars in the year 3000 on the cartoon sitcom, “Futurama” (Al Gore even made a voice appearance for his future self).

  4. Michael says:

    It was going to be outside of the convention at the Lakeland Center.

    At least nobody would see it.

  5. The fact a large segment of the RNC thinks holographic Reagan would be a good idea is a great example of what’s wrong with the GOP right now. It’s a such a blatant appeal to illegitimate authority (Hey, no one is buying this argument, what if we had Reagan say it instead?) that the audience ought to be insulted by the implication they’re too stupid to see through it. What’s more anyone who actually respects Reagan ought to be enraged that the mental lightweights that make up the current party leadership would dare put their words into Reagan’s mouth.

  6. PJ says:

    Will the hologram talk too? The companies funding/buying the next nominee could then get their products promoted by Reagan himself!

  7. An Interested Party says:

    how to tick off make a liberal laugh hysterically in a nano-second!

    Happy to be of help…

  8. grumpy realist says:

    Well, I guess we know where Peggy Noonan will be when this finally unveils….(will this woman ever stop her necrophilic worship of the man?)

  9. Rob in CT says:

    how to tick off a liberal in a nano-second!

    The modern Republican party, ladies and gentlemen. Against whatever liberals are for/for whatever liberals are against, updated daily.

    Pathetic.

  10. al-Ameda says:

    Reagan and Tupac would have brought down the House!

  11. anjin-san says:

    A fake Reagan seems appropriate, Republicans long ago turned their backs on the Reagan that was…

  12. sloan says:

    how to tick off a liberal in a nano-second!

    That’s funny! I guess there was a time when that was true, but that time has passed. Obsessive Reagan nostalgia just makes liberals laugh now, in much the same way that they laugh at Sarah Palin. I remember conservatives insisting that liberals were secretly afraid of Palin’s awesomeness even after she walked off the job. You don’t hear that so much any more. But if you want to believe it’s a winner than bring on the HoloRonnie!

    Seriously though, it’s time to let the guy rest in peace. His presidency ended nearly a quarter century ago. Get over the 80s.