We have got to change that idea to “You ran once, you lost, you’re done.”
We wouldn’t have had Reagan. The world would be a poorer place without him.
I’m talking in terms of the party support. Reagan wasn’t the annointed one of the party until he won—he earned the nomination (and he chose Bush because he needed more support from the establishment).
Also, Reagan is such an outlier. We can’t keep basing everything on the idea that “Reagan did it like that.” It was another time. We’ve been trying everything to find another, and we haven’t. So we need more new blood.