With due respect, any one who with a straight face compares the essence of Reagan’s campaign and the social issue’s place in it with the essence of Santrorum’s campaign is simply insulting the memory of Reagan.
If nothing else, Reagan was so much more like able than Santorum that the comparison fails epically right there. But Reagan did not lead with these issues, nope, no way.
Reagan was demonized as much as Santorum for his pro life, pro family stances.
I agree that the social issues weren’t the driver that they are now...RvW was only 7 years old and our social fabric was still intact then.
However, social issues were a large part of Reagan’s campaign, and motivated many conservatives like myself to support him...along with his pro military and pro business stances.
That is my memory of that time, and I believe you can find enough supporting quotes and evidence to support it.
In the end, it probably is just a matter of opinion...