Reagan was a liberal Democrat in the 1930`s. With the onset of WWII Reagan started transforming into a conservative Democrat. He supported and voted for Eisenhower in 1952 and 1956, along with Nixon in 1960. By 1962 Reagan was a conservative Republican.
Rudy has always been and will always be a liberal.
And Rudy voted for Reagan in 80 and 84 and Reagan made him #3 and top prosecutor in his DOJ. He supported and voted for Bush in 04 and 00 and his speech at the convention was regarded as the best one of all 4 nights.
The same impact that WW2 and the emerging communist threat had on Reagan is similar to 9/11 and the terrorist threat on Rudy.
The point is guys change, their politics change. I could care less where Rudy was 30 years before 2008. I do care about where he is in 2008 and who the best person to beat Hillary is. If there's some conservative star out there, let me know, but as of now it's McCain, Rudy and Romney.
I agree with you that he's not some hard core conservative, but I don't think he's some far left socialist that others make him out to be.
You hold Reagain out as your ideal. He signed amnesty, he appointed O'Connor and Kennedy, two disasters to the SC. He didn't stop abortion, and neither would Rick Snatorum if he became President. On guns, yes Rudy is more in favor of gun control, although the urban NYC area is totally different than other states and rural areas so who knows what his national policy would be. In any event, the past election showed that the dems have given up on gun control and that it's no longer an issue for them. The new congress will not renew the AWB, and I highly doubt Rudy would make any major gun control push if elected.