When did the Republicans become the party of free trade?
When was the first time that Republicans preached "fiscal responsibility"?
Republicans slowly became less protectionist every year from 1936 to 1960 because they saw opening up trade as a way to build alliances with other countries to stop the spread of communism. By 1960, there was no difference between the parties on trade. Then by the 90's, unions persuaded some congressional Democrats to oppose NAFTA. Romney ran a more protectionist platform than Obama did though, so somewhat of a reversal of that evolution started in 2012. Trade is not a left/right issue, or even a regional issue, it just depends on the politician.
