Let me be more specific, rather than spar in generalities. Reagan would never have used the phrase "manage for profit" as a zinger to put down a Republican opponent. Reagan believed in managing for profit because he believed in free enterprise. That doesn't mean he didn't agree to certain tax increases (after fighting for and winning the most massive tax cuts in modern American history), which were incidentally to be accompanied by even greater spending cuts. McCain believes the oil companies are evil, and said it during one of the debates. Among his first acts as president, Reagan decontrolled the prices of natural gas and crude oil with the stroke of his pen because, as he understood, profit funds research and exploration. Reagan had a respect for and comprehension of private property rights and markets that McCain does not. There never would have been a Reagan-Lieberman bill, in which the federal government's power over the private sector would have trumped the New Deal. And Reagan never treated any constituent like this when asked about immigration policy:
http://www.metacafe.com/watch/1073039/dont_ask_mccain/
You are just making excuse for Reagan when his actions don’t live up to your fantasy Reagan.
It’s simple, you don’t like McCain because he isn’t conservative enough, but because he stood up to Bush, he stood up to the Big Spenders in the GOP, he stood up the the businessmen on immigration. You don’t want a leader, you want somebody to ready you bedtime stories.