Romney Caves Completely

[DeistPaladin]

Paul Ryan is far-right?

It's important to remember that the adjective "far" is a relative one to the current political climate. Societies, like the individuals that comprise them, can shift their political views over time so that what was once "extreme" or "radical" for one generation might be "accepted" or "mainstream" the next.

I believe I have some perspective here since 25-30 years ago, I was an outspoken Reagan-worshiping conservative. Were it up to me, I'd have put his face as the fifth one on Mount Rushmore. My opinions very gradually, almost imperceptibly, changed over the years. I went through a phase of libertarian, then "moderate libertarian" (as I called it at the time) and now what I am today (somewhere between liberal and libertarian, or social liberal and economic moderate).

Now here's what I've observed: even as my views shifted to the left, I've seen America shift to the right. I know this because I remember clearly what I once said, believed and wrote at that time. I can tell you that if you were to transport through time the Alex Keaton that I once was to the modern day, he (I) would be appalled and want to distance himself (myself) from the current crop of candidates.

Reagan is lionized by the current Republican party but their knowledge of him is fuzzy at best, take it from someone who lionized the real man. Reagan was willing to raise taxes and close loopholes when he had to. Reagan was willing to negotiate both with political rivals and with foreign adversaries. Reagan was willing to withdraw from foreign quagmires like Lebanon when it was shown to be a mistake. Now, we can criticize all these decisions and others that I haven't mentioned but my point is that Reagan was far to the left of the current crop of Republicans and maybe even of the Democrats.

EDIT TO CONCLUDE: So from the perspective of this teenager-during-the-80s, the entire Republican Party is "far right". Hope this helps.