The terms often used to describe Republicans were that they were too pious and righteous. Ironically, for a Southern based party at the time to level such a charge like the Democrats did, this was a common refrain going back to the days of Jefferson and Adams where Jefferson was accused of being an atheist. There are also numerous references to the heritage of Salem Witch trials, which the GOP's opponents claimed the party inherited. From its birth, the Republicans have been defined by its opponents for Puritanical and Calvinistic excesses. The exception, not the rule, was the period between 1930 and 1970.
Reagan didn't build the three legged stool, he repaired and restored it.
This. The only real "story" there is to take away from how different the parties look is the GOP winning over White Southerners and the sharp decline in religious conservatives in New England and the upper Midwest relative to the South and interior Midwest. For almost all of its history, the GOP has been an awkward marriage between religious conservatives and the business community.
