Quote:Since the days of President Ronald Reagan, the GOP has included as two of its main components businesspeople and working class voters. The business class provided the economic policies for the party (free markets, free trade, fiscal responsibility, low taxes, small government) and the working class provided voting muscle as well as the commitment to some social issues (gun rights, anti-abortion, among other issues). The coalition worked well as long as the economy grew and lifted all boats, making everybody better off.