The Republican debate has an unplanned theme: This isn’t Ronald Reagan’s party anymore

This surely wasn’t the plan, but by placing their second candidate debate at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library, Republican officials put a spotlight on how far their party has moved from positions that made the 40th president a conservative icon.

The GOP has kept the social conservatism that made Reagan the preferred candidate for evangelical Christians — a constituency that now dominates many Republican primaries.

That’s been clear throughout the campaign as the candidates have sparred over how far to go to impose national bans on abortion, a goal sought by many Republican primary voters but opposed by a majority of Americans.

On multiple other issues, however —