From my reckoning, there were only two true conservative presidents in the 20th century: Cool Calvin Coolidge and Ronald Reagan. (Says a lot about the staying power of our wonderful country.) My biggest gripe with Reagan was his choice of socialist-leaning Bush for VP, ostensibly to assure his election, but an unnecessary choice it turned out. It also turned out that whoever was Reagan's VP was "destined for the throne" because of Reagan's massive popularity, although this was also unknown in 1980.
I've often wondered how different things might have been had Reagan had a true conservative for VP. I also wonder if this choice was a strong-arm tactic by the weak-willed GOP officials on Reagan, and if Bush was really Reagan's idea and first choice. Love to hear from anyone who might know more about that.
On the same note, I wonder if Sara will be able to successfully deal with the ever-left-moving-GOP machine and what her chances are of actually getting nominated? As with 2008, the key to the election seems to be the right person getting the GOP nomination.
You bring up a lot of interesting points.
Here’s a question for you on one of them:
Who do you think would have been a better VP choice for Reagan in 1980? Name some of the viable conservatives around for him to choose. (I’m not challenging you, I’m just curious on your take on this question.)