Ronald Reagan also had Democrat roots.
But I digress.
Ronald Reagan was a Democrat. Ronald Reagan head a 25 year track record of moving to the right by the time he ran for president. He had a long track record of understanding and espousing conservative ideas. Six years before he was running for president, he was finishing serving as a Republican governor for eight years, he wasn't reregistering between Democrat, Independent, and Republican.
Ronald Reagan didn't just wake up one day and decide to run as a Republican to get attention. He had attention.
I love how people have to lie about Ronald Reagan to justify total falsehoods.