Reagan didn’t just oppose “media liberals”.
He took on the reigning Republican moderates and liberals by challenging a sitting Republican President in the 1976 primary. Reagan was not the choice of GOP power brokers, and I’d class the crowd that has taken over National Review as being far closer to those that opposed Reagan than to those who supported him. It’s no wonder that they are “rethinking” him.
I didn't suggest he did. My point was very specific. And I don't see him as being as defiant toward the party as you suggest--I see him as more a leader than a reactor, so to speak. His personality was such that he did his thing without worrying too much about what others thought, and his success pulled the country club GOP along in his wake.
That's why I specifically mentioned his dealings with the opposition. Even today, if a genuine conservative were to win big, the GOP would also be pulled along, and they would have no choice.