I recently heard someone say that if Ronald Reagan was alive and in his prime today, he wouldn’t be conservative enough to be a popular Republican Party politician.  I was reminded again of how far the party’s ultraconservative base has dragged the GOP to the far right since Reagan was in office.  In today’s environment the Gipper would probably be running to the left of Mitt Romney and Jeb Bush after they made their concessions to their Tea Party constituency necessary to contend for the Republican Presidential nomination.

It is refreshing to read that some conservative Republicans believe that their party’s lurch to far right of the country’s political spectrum and its conversion to the party of “NO!” is not healthy for either their party or the country.  I just read a column in our local paper by a prominent conservative who apparently believe just that.  Cameron Smith is national director of the Liberty Foundation of America and a senior fellow with the R Street Institute, both conservative organizations.  His column below is an interesting read:

Before reacting to Obama’s State of the Union, try learning from Reagan’s

It is my believe that until the GOP moves closer to the center and starts to expand it’s appeal to more than just the rich, the upper middle class, ultra conservative Southerners, and sour all white men, it is doomed to decline.

Cajun   1/25/15