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Is Donald Trump the next Ronald Reagan?

Many of The Donald鈥檚 supporters insist that he is. The comparison is flattering to their guy, of course: Mr. Reagan was a two-term president and giant of the Republican Party. Juxtaposing the two is a way of portraying Mr. Trump as serious, as opposed to a rich guy starring in a reality show of his own devising.

And there are obvious parallels. Reagan was an actor. So is Trump, given his television experience. Reagan began his political career as a liberal. So did Trump: He鈥檚 given lots of money to Democrats in the past.

In the 1980 primaries, Reagan was not the candidate of the establishment insiders. In this go-round, Trump isn鈥檛 either, to put it mildly. They鈥檝e even got marital status in common. Reagan was the first divorced president, points out the right-leaning Newsmax site in its list of Gipper/Donald similarities. Trump鈥檚 been divorced twice.

Trump himself brings up the Reagan thing to try to deflect questions about whether he can actually, you know, win.

鈥淗e was a Democrat with a liberal bent, and he became a great conservative ... a great president, a great leader.... He had a great heart, and I have a great heart,鈥� Trump told Sean Hannity on Fox News earlier this week.

Well, every Republican hopeful has to evoke Reagan at some point, we suppose. They鈥檙e all still standing in his shadow. The era of the Bushes is a difficult one for the candidates to handle, even for an actual Bush, Jeb. Reagan is safer. He鈥檚 a symbol of GOP triumph. He remains a hero to just about every faction in the party.

But Trump, the next Reagan? We鈥檙e not seeing it, and not just because it鈥檚 impossible to imagine Trump cutting brush.

Reagan was way more experienced. Trump has never run for office before. When Reagan ran for president the first time, he鈥檇 already been governor of one of the largest states in the nation, California, for two terms.

He lost that first race, to the GOP nominee, incumbent President聽Gerald Ford, in 1976. But it was close, and he won on his second try.

Of course, some might see Trump鈥檚 inexperience here as a plus. 鈥淧rofessional politician," 鈥渢rue outsider," and all that. But Reagan thought deeply about politics for decades before he ran 鈥� an interest not apparently Trumpian. The Gipper鈥檚 constant chatter about issues bored his first wife, Jane Wyman, and was one reason for their divorce. Did Donald and Ivana Trump split because she grew tired of talking about the future of Medicare?

Trump is a moderate.聽It鈥檚 true that Reagan began as a liberal. But he moved right long before he entered politics. He traveled the nation delivering warning lectures about 鈥渟ocialized medicine," aka 鈥淢edicare," long before he entered electoral politics. He became the defining rock of modern conservatism.

Trump, in contrast, still has positions that put him at聽the moderate end of the Republican spectrum. He鈥檚 not opposed to single-payer health care in principle, for instance. He just thinks it probably wouldn鈥檛 work in the United States. He won鈥檛 sign a pledge to never raise taxes. He鈥檚 in favor of an exception to an abortion ban in cases of rape and where the mother鈥檚 life is in danger.

鈥淢r. Trump is anything but ideologically rigid, and he certainly does not equate deal making with surrender,鈥� writes The New York Times鈥檚 Josh Barro.

Reagan was a movie star. Trump acts on TV.聽Reagan鈥檚 effectiveness on screen was a huge part of his political appeal. It鈥檚 the same today for Trump. The Donald can dominate on TV. But we鈥檇 argue that the style and roots of their entertainment skills are very different.

Reagan was a movie star who lasted into the TV age. He was trained to play scripted scene after scripted scene. At this, he was superb. His speech following the Challenger disaster was a classic of the presidential leadership genre. Say, 鈥淢r. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!,鈥� and many Americans know instantly who the speaker was.

Trump鈥檚 an actor, but he鈥檚 also a reactor. He鈥檚 a skilled reality television star. He鈥檚 not playing scenes so much as inhabiting a role and dealing with events that the show鈥檚 producers throw at him.

鈥淗e鈥檚 a terrific TV presence, and he seems to be adapting his 鈥榬ole鈥� within the campaign in real time, no less,鈥� writes Todd VanDerWerff on Vox.

Trump is imperious. He鈥檚 aloof. He seems unconcerned what others around him think, Mr. VanDerWerff writes. He鈥檚 learned that this is what sells on reality TV. In that sense, he鈥檚 far more in tune with the era than a transplanted Reagan would be.