People who slime Pat for leaving the Republican Party are hysterical and hypocritical; Pat tried playing by their rules and was spat on at every turn by the GOP hierarchy.
In several states they even kept his name off of the Presidential Primary ballots, solely on the authority of GOP bigwigs. They made it perfectly clear to Pat that he would never get a fair shake from within the GOP. They have no one to blame but themselves if Pat took them at their word, and chose to run outside the party instead.
To gain loyalty, you have to show loyalty, and that is something which the GOP leadership has never done; in fact, Reagan's presidency can now be seen as nothing more than a brief interruption between the rule of the usual GOP hierarchy and their pet establishment types. There is nothing they hate more than the idea that the GOP rank and file might actually prefer a real, genuinelly conservative candidate.
Reagan was the exception, not the rule.
Exactly. I remember how Reagan was treated in '76 and in '80 by the GOP. They were embarassed by him.
Thus the whole Bob Dole "My Turn" campaign of '96. Excellebt observation.