When "the machine" is belching black smoke, leaking water from every gasket, backfiring, knocking, and quaking like a chihuahua trying to pass a peach pit...
...I'd say it's about a whole lot more than just being PERCEIVED as not being part of the machine; it's about really NOT being part of the machine.
And, since Jeb Bush missed the memo, "the machine" is NOT Reagan Conservatism; it is this neo-Rockefellerian fat cat GOP country clubbism that never has said -- and never will say -- anything meaningful to the DNC except "Oh, us too."
Reagan's Machine has been mothballed in a handicapped stall in an unused washroom in the back basement of RNC Headquarters since January 19th, 1989. It's just WAITING for some Conservative to show up who has stones enough to fire it up, twist that throttle all the way open and let it really air out.
We agree.
And Sarah seems to be just the right size to ride that bad boy forth. Wipe off the cosmoline, add some fresh fuel, change the oil, and let’s go!