Reagan loved this country. So, I believe that Reagan would have preferred having Ford elected in 1976, even if that meant that he would never be President.
That’s where Reagans followers may have done more for the country than Reagan’s personal decency would allow. We go forward by polarizing, not by bi-partanship. It would have been a huge tragedy, and perhaps a global disaster, had Reagan not taken the White House. In this election cycle, John McCAin is just the sort of fascist to preside over a vast abridgement of Constitutional rights. There may be a few nice, meek, falsely-decent Republican who go along with him, but real Americans have got to oppose this thug tooth and nail.