Cherry-picking

Mark Griswold writes at American Thinker,

I'm a huge Reagan fan. I don't know any self-proclaimed Republican who isn't. And, by and large, Reagan was quite conservative. But, were he to run today, it's quite possible he'd have already gone the way of Lindsey Graham and George Pataki. Why? Well, let's just imagine some of the things today's "true conservatives" may bring up about Reagan were he making the rounds:

"Reagan is pro-gay-rights!" He vigorously opposed the 1978 Briggs initiative [CA Proposition 6], which would have banned homosexuals from teaching in public schools.
"Reagan is pro-abortion!" Six months into his term as governor, he signed the Therapeutic Abortion Act, which led to a rise in abortions in California from 518 a year to an average of 100,000 during his last two years in office.
"Reagan is pro-tax!" He raised taxes more than $1 billion during his term as governor.
"Reagan is pro-illegal immigration!" He signed the Immigration Reform and Control Act while president, which led to a rise in illegal immigration.
Reagan is a RINO (Republican in Name Only). He didn't join the Republican Party until 1962, before then being an ardent supporter of FDR and the "New Deal."

I raise these points about Reagan not to sully his good name and memory, but simply to point out that you can take nearly anyone and cherry-pick from his record to make him look liberal.

...So Republicans should keep their eyes on the prize. Any one of their candidates would be vastly better for the conservative cause than Clinton or Sanders (with the possible exception of Donald Trump). Any Republican who doesn't believe that needs to take an honest look in the mirror and ask himself: what would Hillary do with ISIS and Iran? What would she do with taxes? (Even if you believe that Rubio would be feckless in the face of a proposed tax-hike bill from a Democrat-controlled Congress, isn't it logical to assume that Clinton would do even worse?) Whom will she appoint to the Supreme Court?

The choice is clear. As conservative activist and founder of the Leadership Institute Morton Blackwell is quick to point out, "Don't make the perfect the enemy of the good."

And if Reagan were alive today, I am fairly certain he'd pull out at least one of his old standards. "That person who agrees with you 80 percent of the time is a friend and an ally, not a 20-percent traitor."

Read more here.