Reagan ran and became the governor of California to create a record. When he ran for President we didn’t have to take his word for it that he’d “changed”. There was actual evidence. There is zero evidence for Trump - it all words that this point.
Did Reagan pander for votes in Iowa using my money? Trump just did.
Nor was Reagan ever a “ leftist.” Leftism was a fairly new thing in America before the 1930s and it was certainly not a term interchangeable with “democrat” the way it has become today.