The culture of the country has changed so much that I’m not sure Reagan could have won. The populace is largely ignorant, political correctness is rampant, the country is economically weak, and we now hava a totally corrupt media propaganda machine dictating the daily liberal narrative. IMO only a severe economic depression is going to wake people up and alter our course.
I agree with you on that. In fact, a propaganda illustration of Reagan is rampant among many of the people I have known. Plenty of the people at a place I used to work, many of whom are union workers, expressed belief that Reagan was a homophobic, racist, anti-abortion, deficit-running, big business sympathizer. Yet this same president allowed many big banks and businesses to fail as president, something even libertarians like Ron Paul and Andrew Napolitano give him credit for, signed an abortion law as governor of CA under the premise that he would reduce abortions, when in fact it didn’t (which would give him the label of flip-flopper), and then he campaigned for a CA proposition to allow homosexual teachers to be open about their sexuality in the public schools. If anything, Reagan is actually more similar than most people would like to admit him being to none other than Romney. However, the propaganda machine is at work, and leftists will create lies andf distortions, much less stubbornly believe them, when mos ton the right refuse to stoop close to such an equivalent. You’re right, it’s certainly not 1980 anymore, but what’s worse, the propaganda machine has such an awful reach, and such a perverse distortion of reality, that there was little, if anything, to be done. However, the GOP could do more than let their candidates do all the running for office. And frankly, it’s irrational to expect a presidential candidate, regardless of how conservative, moderate, or liberal he/she is, to effectively fight for election on his/her own anymore.
Reagan would have easily won, any decent candidate would have.
Romney was a person who didn’t even belong in the party, a failed Massachusetts Governor, who left office with 34% approval, Obamacare and gay marriage as his only legacy.
What did a sane person expect.