Reagan was hardly the safe choice for the GOP nomination in 1980.
George H.W. Bush and John Connolly were the establishment candidates that year.
GHWB won Iowa, and that left Reagan’s candidacy hanging by a thread.
Reagan won Iowa. Trounced Connolly in South Carolina. The rest was history for a great man, Reagan, one of our 5 greatest presidents ever
The establishment did all it could to dump Reagan. He was NOT viewed as the safe choice.
So your theory is marred by the most striking of victories, Reagan’s.
Reagan was variously viewed as too old, too conservative, too much of a cowboy, too volatile, too dumb, too senile, too radical, too dangerous. Reagan was too polarizing. He was hardly the safe choice, as you claim.
So the GOP did pick someone like Sarah Palin — and like Rick Perry — previously. That candidate was Ronald Reagan.
-George
Then why did Reagan out poll all other candidates by almost 2 to 1. GOP voters overwhelmingly supported him regardless of the George Will types going after him. Were talking about the rank and file voters here, not the establishment. Just look at Primary polling for the day. The difference between Reagan and Palin is that Reagan had the support of the people. No one can point to me where Palin has that right now.