Where did the GOP go wrong

Let's start with Ronald Reagan. Before you cry foul, yes, I know Reagan won one of the biggest landslide victories in presidential history and I know that he is an icon in the party. I, too, admired his abilities as a communicator. The man had a gift and a simple charm. However, it was Mr. Reagan who embraced the evangelical wing of the party and put the lunatics in charge of the asylum. - the man known as "Mr. Conservative" - warned against embracing them years earlier, but Reagan did it anyway.

“Mark my word, if and when these preachers get control of the [Republican] party, and they’re sure trying to do so, it’s going to be a terrible damn problem. Frankly, these people frighten me. Politics and governing demand compromise. But these evangelicals believe they are acting in the name of God, so they can’t and won’t compromise. I know, I’ve tried to deal with them.”

The GOP went wrong when they became the party of God. (Thus becoming the American Hezbollah.) No compromise. Stand on principle. Claim to have God's blessings. Attack your opponents as doing evil. It started when the evangelicals took over and it's only gotten worse.

Add in a 24-hour-a-day outrage-generating machine like FOX News, and you have the recipe for the rise of Trump. FOX News was created to keep the base angry - and they're good at that. Angry people get out to vote. However, FOX created a voting bloc monster that they can no longer control. This bloc put Trump in the White House.

In the days of Eisenhower, the GOP was a party of sanity and balance, aside from a few very bad ideas (Wetback, intervening in Iran). Every president makes bad decisions, but lately, the entire GOP is like a laundry list of everything that is wrong with the United States. That's my opinion, anyway

[R] Senator Barry Goldwater

2020 interview with Barry Goldwater July 1993
https://www.youtube.com/embed/eu9v7NO_LgU