The man once called Ronald Reagan's alter ego, who served with Reagan when he was Governor of California and then as President, recalled Reagan's values and said America could take lessons from them.
When asked how to pick a Republican presidential nominee in 2012, Meese said wait and see which candidate best displays Reagan's leadership qualities.
"You can't know how a person's going to act or react and what their true beliefs are, how they're going to stand up to questioning, to opposition until you see them in action," Meese said. "The best way we have in this country is to see how people go through the primaries."
Meese said he has made no decision yet and will likely wait until after the South Carolina primary to make a choice. He recalled that Reagan did not announce he was running until November 1979, and was not a 'first choice' among Republican candidates.
Meese said Reagan's lessons in vision, as a communicator, his courage, his integrity, and his perseverance are valuable to Americans in 2011, the year of his 100th birthday.
"I believe core values and the opportunity for people to take charge as citizens of the United States were important parts of his message, said Roger Sulhoff of Gainesville with the Heritage Foundation. "I have talked to Ed for the last two or three years when we have our annual gathering and he said he would make a way to get to Gainesville and have a chance to visit with your folks."
Meese, who was Attorney General from 1985 to 1988, currently holds several chairmanships with public policy councils including the Heritage Foundation.
With the U.S. Supreme Court back in session, Meese predicted a close vote, 5-4 on the health care overhaul bill, but is hopeful that close vote will decide in favor of striking the measure down as unconstitutional.
"There's no doubt in my mind that the Constitution, the Commerce Clause, cannot be stretched far enough to say that you can tell people what they have to buy," Meese said. "I'm very hopeful that by a 5-4 decision the Supreme Court will determine that what Obama Care has required is not constitutional. If they don't then we will effectively have given up a great deal of what's left of our freedom."
Meese recalled with a smile President Reagan's habit of keeping plenty of his trade mark jellybeans available at White House Staff meetings, saying the jellybeans replaced his cigarette smoking habit shortly after World War ll.
"It's very hard to argue strenuously when you're munching on a jellybean, so that was his gimmick for lowering tensions," Meese said, adding that jellybeans might be a good thing for the White House today. "I think the jellybeans might ease things in some of those tough rhetorical battles that we have and the spirit of the jellybean, that is, people getting together with a common purpose is what is needed in Washington."
Meese pointed to the rancor and political division in Congress, the apparent lack of civility, and said the solution has got to start at the top.
"I don't mean this in a partisan way, but the President talks about and tries to divide the country on the basis of class warfare and rails against productive human beings who are providing jobs for others and saying rich people aren't paying their share."
Meese said Reagan was a tough fighter for his principles, but he never once disparaged his opponents. He said officials in Washington need to be 'servant leaders', not 'leaders of the servants'.
Meese said wait and see which candidate best displays Reagan
Meese, (r), said Reagan
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