DBWI: A Republican Ronald Reagan?

Is it possible that during his political career, Ronald Reagan could have switched to the Republican party? He was a staunch New Deal Democrat and a foreign policy hawk in the US Senate while working with his colleagues Henry Jackson, John F. Kennedy, Richard Russell and Hubert Humphrey. He also had a great working relationship with William Knowland.

Had that happened, would Reagan still have been elected President of the US?
 
One problem that Reagan had was that his relationship with Russell meant that while he stood for the New Deal, many on the left of the party hated him when he supported Russell's run in 1952 and his image never recovered from that, you could have him encourage the deal that was being ironed out between Russell and Truman, resulting in a place in a possible Stevenson administration which means that people don't conveniently forget his friendship with JFK, HHH and others.

But that is not the intended effect of this WI. You could have him gain a cold which kills his acting career, where his Democratic sympathies were increased and instead send him to a Republican stronghold in Illinois, he works on a farm maybe and could even succeed Anton Johnson when he died. He'd have hung around Johnson for a while though, he'd gain some conservative Republican credentials and might be able to hold into to that safe seat. Butterflies may get rid of WWII so Roosevelt has more trouble against Wilkie and stands down in 1944, Dewey could lose to however takes over from there, maybe Hull, Wallace or even Kennedy Sr. 1948 will be deadlocked as a result so Reagan, a twelve year congressmen and charismatic young face, could be one of the Taft faction's demands in exchange for endorsing Dewey again. 1948 may go their way.

That good enough?
 
Well, you probably have to go back as early as his teenage years, before he becomes politically conscious and chooses his side. Having him start out as a Democrat and later on switch to the Republicans is... implausible. Stranger things have happened, of course, but it's just not believable.

I mean, just listen to this speech and ask yourself if this man could ever change from being anything but a staunch, liberal New Deal Democrat.

Keep in mind that this is a longer process then implied, plus this is before he saw the effects of the Depression in certain areas of California which some said made him a real New Dealer instead of someone on the bandwagon.

Or you could have him pull a Wiklie but I view my idea as the slightly more interesting one.
 
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