[Will88]

You have to go back even further. If the Republican Party had not nominated fake conservative Bush, but a REAL CONSERVATIVE, there is NO WAY that ALL THREE BRANCHES OF GOVERNMENT would have fallen to socialists.

I believe Reagan's worst mistake was his VP selection. That elevated this family of phony Texans to political success they could never have achieved on their own, and it planted the seeds for the weakening of the conservative movement. W's second term was a disaster, and it is still hard to believe how far Republicans fell from 2004 until 2008.

[deannadurbin]

I agree.

[Josh Painter]

Ronald Reagan’s short list of prospective running mates included Howard Baker, William Simon, Jack Kemp, Richard Lugar, Paul Laxalt, and George Bush. There was also a cockamamie prospect deal to choose Ford, but it fell apart. Kemp would have been the perfect running mate for the Gipper. He had legislative and executive experience, was from New York (west-east balance) and was a conservative (at least more conservative than Bush or Ford!)that the moderate wing of the GOP would not have opposed. Kemp was a pro football quarterback that everyone liked. Like Reagan, Kemp was an optimist, and Kemp shared Reagan's vision for the nation. GHW Bush didn't even know what a vision was. - JP