I do not believe I have proposed anything that is contrary to what has been considered Republican principle. It is at the same time the very basis of conservatism. It is time to reassert that principle and raise it to full view. And if there are those who cannot subscribe to these principles, then let them go their way.
This speech was given shortly before Reagan decided to “break” Reagan’s “Eleventh Commandment” and challenge an incumbent Republican president for the GOP nomination. And it is quite possibly the finest defense of conservatism EVER put forward.