Originally posted on 01/07/2016:

Trump on the Path of Reagan

The former president was considered a joke candidate — until he wasn't; Trump is following the Gipper stride for stride

From Realclearpolitics
"They called Reagan a wild man and irresponsible and a lightweight. They called him a racist. They questioned his understanding of Washington and of domestic policy. They mocked him when he had the courage to call out the enemies of America. Didn’t he know our enemies just wanted jobs and a better environment, and they’d give up their evil ways?

They even mocked his hair. He had a beautiful wife, but the liberal elites loathed her as just some fashion maven, and not a true feminist.

The New York Times wrote in 1980 that the Republican Party’s platform of the era looked as if it has “been written by a Klansman.” This is the way liberals often work. It is right out of Saul Alinsky’s playbook. Don’t engage. Instead, attack and mock. Don’t ever grant legitimacy to the opposing viewpoint.


A prominent liberal writer recently penned that conservatism was dead, but maybe it is corrupt Republicanism, corrupt liberalism, and corrupt Establishmentarianism that are dead. American conservatism — based on personal freedom, personal ethics — is doing just fine.
Trump is learning conservatism as he goes along. Cruz is marinated in conservatism. As one Reaganite said, “The church ain’t just for the saints; sinners are welcomed, too.”
And so, too, are converts.'