Republicans have been searching in vain for the "next Reagan" ever since the first one left office, but the two-decade old quest is hanging especially heavy over the current presidential race.

Nostalgia for Reagan may be heightened this year by the former president's passing in June 2004 -- an event that elevated his already legendary status among Republicans -- but mostly it's driven by Republican dissatisfaction with the current crop of candidates and the current president.

The polling firm Strategic Vision recently began asking Republicans in six states whether they believe George W. Bush is "a conservative in the mode of Ronald Reagan." The results were surprisingly consistent and overwhelmingly negative: 62% of Republicans in Florida answered "no." The numbers were even worse in the five other states: 68% in Wisconsin, 69% in Pennsylvania, 71% in Michigan, 77% in Iowa and 78% in Georgia.

In a corresponding question, sizable majorities of Republican voters responded that it is "somewhat" or "very" important for the presidential candidate in 2008 to be "a conservative Republican in the mode of Ronald Reagan."

Reagan's shadow will continue to loom over the Republican primary race as candidates work to invoke his name and associate themselves with his legacy -- starting next week when they face off in their first debate, to be held, fittingly, at the Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley, California. One more thing worth noting: Rudy Giuliani led the entire Republican presidential field in all six of Strategic Vision's state polls.