And the establishment had to be dragged kicking and screaming all the way back then too.
Yes, the “establishment” had to be kicking and screaming back then. I remember Michigan Governor Milliken, who was chairthing of the Michigan delegation and a GW Bush supporter at the 1980 convention that nominated Reagan, complaining about “people like truck drivers” who were the Reagan delegates (i.e., his appeal wasn’t focused on the “right people at the country club”. There were the same shivers among the party elites back then that Reagan would bring down the congressional ticket with him. When Reagan picked Bush as VP, these open complaints fell away a bit, so I guess to shut them up this time, Trump will have to take Jeb Bush as his VP (HA!).