Posted on 04/04/2015 6:48:34 AM PDT by parksstp
Jeffrey Lord doesn't get it either: "A GOP Senate that features Sens. John McCain, Lindsey Graham, Lisa Murkowski, and Jeff Flake may not be the party of Brooke and Percy but it is nowhere close to the party of Reagan."
Republican Senators in the Reagan years included Brooke, Matthias, Weicker, Specter, Rudman -- all probably more liberal than any Republicans in the Senate now.
The "party of Reagan" included a lot of people who would never be considered Republicans today. Reagan managed to win and accomplish things all the same.
There are things one could criticize in Will's article. IMHO, the basic point which he should have emphasized would be that a candidate who alienates potential supporters early on (Goldwater's sawing off the Eastern seaboard and extremism in the defense of liberty", Cruz's "mushy middle") isn't likely to win. Ronald Reagan didn't do that (which may be one good reason why he did win).
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From Will's article:
The candidacy had, however, planted seeds of hope, which will flower on a great November day in the future. Sixteen Novembers later, they did.
Do the math.
Possibly there's less of a classic swing vote.
But the party base a candidate needs to win and the ideological base candidates play to aren't the same.
There are voters parties count on who don't respond to more ideological arguments.
ANY republican candidate is going to be given the Memories Pizza Treatment.
Palin can see Russia, Romney against little people and dog on the roof, McCain to angry .....
You know this.
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