I disagree with Reagan’s claim that the rat party left him and not the other way around, perhaps it was just a good line on his part. The anti-Americanism started with commie love in the 40’s but took predominance I think around Vietnam time, after he left that party. The socialism started in like the 1880’s cemented with the nomination of WJ Bryan in 1896. Since then there’s been 2-4 rats candidates that weren’t socialists. Judge Alton Parker in 1904 and John W. Davis in 1924 and possibly the vaunted Al Smith in 1928 who opposed the new deal. (and James Cox in 1920 was a Wilsonite on foreign policy but I don’t know if he was a socialist, probably was)
In 1948 Reagen was pimping Truman and Hubert Humphrey for Senate in Minnesota against http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uJDhS4oUm0M
He changed his views, the rat party stayed the same.
Don’t forget Reagan’s tenure as headof the Screen Actor’s Guild and his coming face to face with heavy DemocRAT Communist infiltration. That began his move to the right.