The GOP elites didn’t much care for Reagan either. All they care about is conning the base into voting for them so they can continue their Ponzy scam (as you so aptly put it).
I don’t really agree with the article, even though I don’t like the NeverTrump people. The support for either Trump or Cruz in the primary was from the Republican Party becoming too similar to the Democratic Party. Trump is conservative on most issues, except ones he thought he’d lose on, example not talking about Social Security reform. I don’t think we should act like we don’t care about conservatism just because we’re supporting Trump.
Mitt Romneycare has shown he is just as much a progressive as Hillary Clinton. I’m surprised he hasn’t endorsed her yet.
Democrats own blacks and GOPe feel entitled to the conservative and defense vote but never support it. All the chessy RNC hawk patriotic showmanship during Bush I and Dole elections were very obvious in fakey