It's not even close to being the truth. Reagan did extremely well with Independents (winning 43 states in '80 and 49 states in '84) and he was far to the right of Rudy, to understate the matter. The "conventional wisdom" infecting the party since the early '90s that says only "centrist" Republicans can win general elections is a dangerous lie.
"if we want a victory we must support Rudy"
Speaking of dangerous lies.....
Like I said’ that was then this is now,a totally different political climate.