I tend to support the policies advanced by the Democratic Party, but I voted for HW Bush. I also think the centrism of Eisenhower and Nixon (in very specific areas), represents some of the greatest political achievement's of our nation's history. Even Reagan - who used the extreme rhetoric of Movement Conservatism - governed as a moderate in many areas. He made deals with Tip, and he appealed to white working class Democrats who felt alienated by the Left's radical turn from working class to lifestyle issues in the sixties.
Point is: Reagan could have done what today's Tea Party does. He could have called every Democrat a Marxist, a Jihad-sympathizer or, simply, an enemy. But he didn't. He didn't declare war on all Democrats. He wanted to govern with them when possible. At his best, Reagan wanted to be the president of all Americans. As governor of California he worked with the Women's Movement to strengthen Planned Parenthood, and he never would have shut down government over funding to Planned Parenthood despite his conservatism. He was a pragmatist who wanted to get things done, rather than an extremist who declared war on half the country.
He didn't try to destroy the religious freedom at the heart of the Fist Amendment. And yes, he did exploit fear over terrorism and the Soviets, but he did so with a degree of moderation that is lacking from the current Republican Party. Trump makes McCarthy's black lists and loyalty oaths seem tame.
The current Republican Party has has become so extreme that they can't allow a Democratic President or Democratic Congress to pass any legislation, including legislation which originated on the Right or has overwhelming support on the Right. They are at war with the Left; they are at war with minorities and Muslims & Latinos in ways that an earlier generation of Conservatives simply were not.
There are over 1.3 billion Muslims, the overwhelming majority of whom simply want to exist peacefully with the West and make a better life for their children. There are over 5,000 Muslims in the US military. Dubai and Turkey are filled with Muslims who exist peacefully with the west.
The Republicans - who are using fear-of-Muslims to get elected - are isolating, excluding and rejecting moderate muslims, which has the unintended consequence of forcing them into the arms of ISIS. Reagan would never have done this. Even Bush 43 & Chaney were careful to separate the small group of radicals from Muslims in general. But Trump is blowing that up. He is a divisive know-nothing bomb-thrower who appeals to know-nothings. He is sinking the Republican Party. He is probably a Bill Clinton plant.
I know plenty of centrists who would vote for an HW Bush or Eisenhower style moderate over Hillary. There is a huge swath of patriotic, socially conservative "Reagan Democrats" in the midwest who would vote for a center-right Republican in a heartbeat, but they would never vote for a know-nothing demagogue like Trump.
(A part of me thinks that Tump is not as anti-Muslim and anti-Mexican as he sounds. I think he might be an opportunist who realizes that empty tough talk works with the crude nativist of the Republican base. I think he realizes that his path to power is through the uneducated white male - the angry, unschooled Republican whose rage has been so brilliantly channeled at all these extremely simplistic scapegoats "Muslims", "Mexicans", "Liberals", "Gays", "Washington" ... all swirling in the mongrel mind, filling a knowledge vacuum that should have been filled by careful research)
