Reagan

When Ronald Reagan ran for President the establishment wing of the party known as the Rockefeller wing was totally against Reagan and predicted disaster for the party. Here are just a few of the many comment made about Reagan. To be more precise, they thought him an extremist, un-electable, an ultra-right wing nut, dumb, ignorant and, more to the point, not one of their crowd. Former Republican Senator Chuck Percy of Illinois in 1975 to the New York Times: “A Reagan nomination and the crushing defeat likely to follow could signal the beginning of the end of our party as an effective force in American life.” Republican Representative Pete McCloskey of California in 1976: “A Reagan win would be a disaster for the GOP.” In 1976, Reagan was publicly told by two Republican governors to get out of the race against Ford: What goes around comes around.