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Quoting Reagan is not a good excuse for supporting moderates who compromise with liberals. People act as if they invoke the name of Reagan and it excuses the failings of the modern Republican Party. Rush and others are saying that Republicans have now learned their lesson. Have they truly learned their lesson? The proof is in the pudding.

Recently there was a proposal in the Senate to ban earmarks. How may Republicans voted for it?

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The Republican Party has not yet learned its lesson. In the era of Reagan his injunction to never speak ill of a fellow Republican was valid. We are in a new era, and in this new era, the weaknesses of the Republican Party have their source within the party. In this new era, Reagan would object to using his name to absolve those who remain a part of the problem.

I quote Reagan only because so many on the right have made him the patron saint of conservatism in spite of the fact that, as much as I admire him, too, he did in fact have his own baggage.

You are right about the earmarks and it drives me crazy when Republicans don't differentiate themselves from the Dems that way. But that seems to me a plus for McCain, who has campaigned against them and authored the amendment banning earmarks from the omnibus spending bill March of 09.

We are never going to have candidates who we agree with 100% and it makes no sense to cut off our noses to spite our face. All I can say is, I'd rather have McCain in there than Obama. Say what you will, McCain would have never allowed a bill like Obamacare to get past his desk. He would never go abroad apologizing for this country, nor make enemies with Israel, etc., etc.

The Republican Party has not yet learned its lesson. In the era of Reagan his injunction to never speak ill of a fellow Republican was valid. We are in a new era, and in this new era, the weaknesses of the Republican Party have their source within the party. In this new era, Reagan would object to using his name to absolve those who remain a part of the problem.

Baloney. The Ford/Rockefeller wing of the GOP dominated the party back then just as the current Bush/Romney people do now. And yet Reagan continued to reach out to the establishment. Furthermore, the situation was pretty damn dire back in the Carter years if you recall. In his 1980 convention speech Reagan said:

"The major issue of this campaign is the direct political, personal and moral responsibility of Democratic Party leadership--in the White House and in Congress--for this unprecedented calamity which has befallen us. They tell us they have done the most that humanly could be done. They say that the United States has had its day in the sun; that our nation has passed its zenith. They expect you to tell your children that the American people no longer have the will to cope with their problems; that the future will be one of sacrifice and few opportunities.
My fellow citizens, I utterly reject that view. The American people, the most generous on earth, who created the highest standard of living, are not going to accept the notion that we can only make a better world for others by moving backwards ourselves. Those who believe we can have no business leading the nation.
I will not stand by and watch this great country destroy itself under mediocre leadership that drifts from one crisis to the next, eroding our national will and purpose. We have come together here because the American people deserve better from those to whom they entrust our nation's highest offices, and we stand united in our resolve to do something about it.

Was Reagan engaging in hyperbole back then? I sure don't remember it that way.