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Something many people forget is the pre-Reagan era political factions which made up the parties. That being that there existed a moderate, liberal, and conservative faction in both the GOP and Democrats, which for the most part were wiped out with Reagan and party shifting. However, back before Reagan, the Conservatives of the GOP weren't anything too spectacular from what I can recall. Whereas the moderates and liberals were in a coalition which ran the party, the Conservatives were I'd dare say last place in the party and made up of a bunch of western Libertarians and occasional Dixiecrat converts. And Republicans who grew up or held power in the post-Reagan era were Conservatives as a result of the GOP being taken over by the Conservatives.

So my question is, what if there were no Reagan Revolution and thus the Conservatives didn't take over the party wholesale? What would be of the party's inner politics and makeup? How would the Democrats themselves be affected? And, rather importantly to me for this topic, what would Republicans following the failure of the Reagan revolution to come to fruition look like? Would George Bush and JEB be moderates rather than Neoconservatives, and Romney perhaps even his father's Rockefeller Republican? Or, would the Conservatives take over the GOP at some point later regardless? I'm not limiting anyone to these questions, but they're just sort of a perspective for the overall topic of what would be of the GOP if the Conservatives did not take it over.
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