All I have to do is look at the most popular president in the last 70 years and see he was a rock-ribbed conservative. And yes, he frickin horrifed the Rockefeller/pantywaist wing of the party.
“Most popular”? Oh, please lets stop the revisonist history. Reagan was certainly the most popular in my lifetime but he was certainly not more popular than FDR.
Nor is there any Reagan’s out there with the possible exception of Sarah. None have his media savvy which allowed him to defeat the media at its own game. Reagan won as much because of his personality and his ability to project it as his political ideology just as FDR did.
And who do you propose? Hunter! Someone, despite his correct politics, as far from the sunny optimism persona of Reagan as you can get. Someone who has NO chance.
This is not a conservative country. At best there are 30% conservative hence, any elections broader than a Congressional district are rarely won by conservatives outside of a couple of states. Yet, you castigate anyone daring to appeal to the 40% in the middle as a RINO. Hence, I can only conclude you do not really care about winning or political power.