Reagan attacked the party, too, after the losses in 1974. See his CPAC speech in March of 1975.
The reason this was looking like a year where the Dems couldn’t possibly lose was because the GOP caucus in Congress and the President have been engaging in exactly the sort of crap that McCain was attacking last night: Spending us into the dustbin of history. Anyone who refuses to vote for a Republican after he calls for fiscal responsibility, real reform and smaller government has completely missed the point.
Surrender if you want. I’m a fighter...just like Reagan was. You’re on the opposite side of this from him.
Reagan was a conservative. This is what he said at CPAC on March 1, 1975: "A political party cannot be all things to all people. It must represent certain fundamental beliefs which must not be compromised to political expediency, or simply to swell its numbers."
McCain is appealing to independents, moderates, and Dems. He is eschewing such basic principles as the "rule of law" and free political speech under the 1st amendment.
Surrender if you want. I’m a fighter...just like Reagan was. You’re on the opposite side of this from him.
I am a fighter like Reagan. I won't compromise fundamental principles in the name of political expediency. John McCain doesn't represent the GOP of Reagan and his victory will move the party further to the Left and marginalize conservatives even further.