I disagree vehemently. Reagan was a brilliant communicator and would have pulled people into his world view. Romney, despite doing a lot of things quite well, did not do that. He essentially closed the ABO crowd, and no more. Reagan would definitely not get the landslides of the 1980s in today’s world, but he could certainly win. Does anyone not think, he could have persuaded 10,000 people in Florida to vote for prosperity? Would not 300,000 people in the five key swing states consider changing course?
I agree, the author says the traditional values of work ethic and aspirations are different today, but there are many people who stayed home or voted for Obama that would have considered another option.
And you may be correct but there was no candidate in the same league as Reagan this time around so, we'll never know.