13th
The Republican party has always been made of two branches: the crony-capitalist branch and the Libertarian branch. Reagan was from the Goldwater-Libertarian branch, George Bush, Sr. was from the crony-capitalist branch.
So this Ron-Paul-is-not-a-real-Republican-because-he-leans-Libertarian is a joke. The Libertarian branch is far older than the crony-capitalist branch.
It’s the bedrock of the old Republican party.
The newbies—i.e., the fake Republicans—are the neocons. Their foreign policy and stance on social issues aligns quite well with the internationalist strains of the Democratic Party. (And in fact the neocons admit coming from the Scoop Jackson branch of the Dems.) So you wanna talk “fake Republicans”? Look no further than the neocons. Somehow they seized power and are trying to purge the older substratum of the Republican party.

