From Joseph West’s comment:

“Of course, there were also a load of stupid Dems who fell for Reagan’s fake folksy image and, incredibly, many of these “Dems” wear that vote as some sort of misguided badge of pride.”

Dear Joseph: in my opinion, the principal factor behind the creation of these “Reagan Democrats” was the fact that these misguided “Democrats” simply COULD NOT STAND seeing America humiliated by a country one-fifth its size (i.e. Iran). Ergo, they simply VOTED AGAINST then-incumbent President Jimmy Carter because they had NO OTHER CHOICES. There was ABSOLUTELY NO WAY for the American people to know of Reagan’s secret dealings with the Iranian mullahs before the 1980 election because keep in mind: Reagan’s running mate George H.W. Bush was a FORMER CIA DIRECTOR — ergo, he knows the art of secrecy and controlling the mainstream media INSIDE AND OUT.

I’d LOVE to see that perennially pampered pig Eric Bolling work JUST ONE WEEK flipping hamburgers at McDonald’s or Burger King or stocking shelves at the local Wal-Mart. I’ll bet the house he’ll be SCREAMING LIKE HELL for a hike in his wages in LESS THAN 48 HOURS!

truman, it’s actually not so much that “there used to be a moderate wing” as it is that there used to be a LIBERAL wing. While the R’s tended to always be conservative when it came to economic policy, there was a fairly liberal group when it came to social policy (which was willing to spend money on social issues that helped people).

The Liberal GOP was somewhat knocked for a loop with Nixon’s presidency but, after Agnew resigned and Gerald Ford became VP, the Liberal wing felt a slight resurgence which was increased after Nelson Rockefeller became Ford’s VP, following Nixon’s resignation. Unfortunately, after the GOP lost so many seats in the 1974 elections (prior to the election, the Dems outnumbered the GOP 242-192; after the election, the Dems outnumbered the GOP 291-144), the Liberal wing wasn’t spared.

Then, in 1976, the GOP’s right-wing decided to challenge Ford and had a very good chance of getting Reagan as the nominee but Reagan, like Ford, was still short enough delegates to win outright, so he thought he could win the extra delegates (especially the moderate and liberal wings who felt Reagan was too conservative) by naming PA Senator Schweiker as his VP candidate, but that pissed off a lot of conservatives. Ford’s nomination was largely assured as Rockefeller declined to run on the ticket and Ford ended up selecting Bob Dole as his VP candidate. Dole was just conservative enough to win over a number of southern conservative GOPers for Ford and Ford ended the night with the nomination.

Then, of course, in 1980, the Liberal wing was upset that Reagan got the GOP nomination, leading John Anderson to run as an independent. Unfortunately, Anderson may have taken as many, if not more, voters from Carter as he did from Reagan; there were still a number of liberal Dems still upset that Ted Kennedy’s challenge wasn’t successful. (Of course, there were also a load of stupid Dems who fell for Reagan’s fake folksy image and, incredibly, many of these “Dems” wear that vote as some sort of misguided badge of pride. Granted, if people knew of the Reagan team’s illegal actions concerning the hostages in Iran before the election, they might have not been as willing to vote for the “tired old man who was elected king”—to paraphrase Don Henley.)

After Reagan’s election, the Liberal wing of the GOP pretty much went the way of the dinosaur as many of the elected officials began retiring (many before they were primaried out—as we’ve seen in the last two election cycles with the teabaggers challenging the incumbents).

The last great hurrah for the Liberal wing was managing to get George H W Bush elected as President in his own right and preventing him from losing the nomination in 1992.

Now, there aren’t any Liberal GOPers and the moderates are being pushed out by the extremists. If these GOPers hope to regain any sort of power, their best bet would be to set up their own party, and be willing to sit out a couple of election cycles until the regular GOP voters realize what kind of utter incompetents are out there calling themselves Republicans.

Great post doors17.

@doors17. I agree with your assessment. The core of the problem is that there used to be a moderate wing of the Repug Party. Think Eisenhower and Rockefeller. Over the years, that wing has become virtually extinct. Now if you want to know what the Repug Party stands for, ask the Kock brothers or one of their butt boys like Paul Ryan.

Once upon a time I use to just find myself respectfully disagreeing with the Republican Party on many issues. I could actually see their point of view or at least figured that a compromise could be reached where both sides could give and take a little to the betterment that each felt was a victory what they believed would benefit others.

Today I can’t even pretend to see their point of view or come to an understanding when it’s all selfishness, greed, sell fear, hate and demonize Democrats. Considering what the parties represent today I’ve never felt more proud to be member of the Democratic Party.

If the R’s have their way then in the end not everyone will live happily ever after, only the wealthy.