What was Reagan's appeal to Democrats?

[All Along The Watchtower]

Overrated, for one thing.

Note that most working-class white Democrats (particularly unionized ones and those outside the South), the old-school left-liberals, poorer voters, liberal women/feminists, and especially black Americans (vast majority - of all backgrounds -  being Dems by then ofc)  utterly despised Reagan and were often quite scared by him and his politics. This was true even in his 49-state landslide in 1984 at the height of his popularity, basically.

Besides, most Americans did not like Reagan's policies, even if many liked him personally (or rather, liked his carefully manufactured affable public image). And he was quite unpopular at several points during his Presidency, particularly during the Volcker Recession in the middle of his first term and during the Iran-Contra era (which he and Bush Sr. should absolutely have been impeached and convicted for).

The "Reagan was beloved" myth started in the early 90s after the failed one-term Presidency of George Bush I, when Clinton was elected and the Contract On America types rose to power under Gingrich. Grover Norquist, Ralph Reed, the Heritage Foundation, and others relentlessly pumped out misleading or even outright falsehoods in their propaganda regarding Reagan, as did the increasingly influential right-wing talk radio hosts and later in the decade, the Fox News Channel. It was basically all cynical bulls**t and whitewashing of one of America's worst Presidents. And not just the entire Republican Party (many of whom correctly saw Reagan as a vapid far-right nut before he was elected) but also an alarming number of Democrats (Clinton and the "New Democrats") bought into said bulls**t and whitewashing. Disgusting.