Did you vote for Reagan? I did and I did it despite the fact that he once supported abortion. There were plenty of "real conservatives" who didn't support Regan for a number of reasons. I supported him - yes it was his time. And then after he was elected I continued to support him despite the fact that he appointed O'Connor and Kennedy to the Supreme Court, raised taxes twice, supported amnesty, cut and ran in Lebanon and got sucked into the arms for hostages deal. He was still better than any alternative out there. And I always kept his words in mind as I do now...
When I began entering into the give and take of legislative bargaining in Sacramento, a lot of the most radical conservatives who had supported me during the election didnt like it. Compromise was a dirty word to them and they wouldnt face the fact that we couldnt get all of what we wanted today. They wanted all or nothing and they wanted it all at once. If you dont get it all, some said, dont take anything. Id learned while negotiating union contracts that you seldom got everything you asked for. And I agreed with FDR, who said in 1933: I have no expectations of making a hit every time I come to bat. What I seek is the highest possible batting average. If you got seventy-five or eighty percent of what you were asking for, I say, you take it and fight for the rest later, and thats what I told these radical conservatives who never got used to it.
So... go ahead and continue to beat up on people who should be your allies. That worked so well in rallying support for Fred Thompson - NOT!.
Twice.
I did and I did it despite the fact that he once supported abortion.
LIAR. Reagan never supported abortion - he signed a bill that was meant to legalize abortion in cases of rape, incest and the health of the mother (within the realm of many pro-lifers) - NOT to allow abortion on demand. Doctors abused that last case and Reagan later regretted signing the bill.
That is the problem with you RINO boosters - you re-write history to make your points.
Oh, and once again, RINOs lose when they run for president. The point is not about alienating allies. It is instead to ignore the siren call from the establishment wing of the GOP that would rather be a chronic minority party than have to accomodate all those rube social conservatives.
If he was an abortion supporter then you must have quotes and articles he wrote pushing his abortion agenda, please post them because I have never seen them.