Give me a break. I’m not undercutting anyone. Reagan reached out to moderates - fact. In his own day many purist conservatives loathed him - fact (some of the same who now admire him).
What you need to do is read his own autobiography from 1990 where he states how he weathered opposition from purists on the right and went for compromises he felt were good overall. That is how he won big.
Besides some of the issue you list about McCain are peripheral. I would say Iraq and the GWOT are the most important, and McCain is right on them. He is right on spending, which is also way up there. Right to life, as well. And he wants the border secured.
But it’s funny you mention undercutting Reagan, because that’s exactly what Mitt Romney did in the 90s.
Besides some of the issue you list about McCain are peripheral. “
perpheral!!?!?!
- Bush’s tax cuts were the centerpiece of Bush’s 1st term doemsitc agenda. McCain said no.
- CFR has been the WORST bill in the last 10 years out of Washington. McCain authored it.
- Comprehensive illegal immigration bill would has been the largest welfare giveaway and biggest expansion in entitlements and also would have destroyed the GOP majority for a generation...
yeah, small potatoes ... and of course that is just the tip of the RINO iceberg of things McCain is doing.
McCain-Lieberman would be a huge expansion of Govt regulation in energy, for example.
“Reagan reached out to moderates”
Reagan did not make it a point to push and enact liberal legislation as his modus operandi in reaching out. All you need to know about the difference between McCain and Reagan is the difference between how the media treats McCain and Reagan. McCain’s media respect is due to his RINO-ism.
And McCain’s RINO actions are precisely why he should be rejected as a nominee.