The Third Reich was explicitly socialist, and the KKK was explicitly Democrat.
Also I doubt Genghis Khan was in favor of small government.
Greenfield is right. Conservatives need to push the hell back on these lazy labels.
You are correct. That mischaracterization began long before I was born. Way back then, Republicans should have been outraged and should have loudly and explicitly tarred the Left with these associations. Instead, the GOP was largely silent and the evil groups became associated with Conservartives. Lovely.
But the same thing goes on today. The RINOs make the same mistake. They do not assert their principles, their moral correctness, their allegiance to freedom and opportunity for all, their love of the Constitution. The RINOs abandon all of that in some vague hope that by being "middle-of-the-road", our polarized country will like them. That's not working.
The Left will be defeated only when the Right decides to stand up and being decisively and uncompromisingly Conservative.