Remember, a lot of good conservatives didn’t trust Reagan. He was always much more “establishment” than we remember. They felt betrayed when he picked Scranton for VP in ‘76. And, he did some things in California that we’d rather not remember. “The New Right” were never in awe (Howard Phillips endorsed Connolly) and I remember Buckley opposed Reagan on the Panama Canal. I believe the hard core conservative in the primaries was Phil Crane. Reagan was the “safe” conservative.
Not endorsing Reagan in 1980 wasn’t as “RINOish” as it may seem today.
Reagan chose Sen. Dick Schweiker in 1976, not ex-Gov. Scranton.