I simply like to use an interesting measuring stick. I voted for Reagan as many times as I was legally allowed. Yet today's GOP hardliner would look at a nameless candidate with Reagan's record as if the former president was a socialist and (here's the rub) all the while practically praising Reagan's name like a saint.

Reagan was the very model of compromise and dealmaking. Something today's GOP, especially the Tea Party Caucus, doesn't practice at all.