When Republicans talk about the future of their party, they do so with an eye firmly focused on the past.

“Early in my political days in Texas, there were two parties, but it was the Democratic Party and the conservative Democratic Party,” said political consultant Mark McKinnon. “There was no Republican Party.”

McKinnon has played on both sides of the political aisle. He worked on the campaigns of Texas Gov. Ann Richards and President George W. Bush. He says Bush caught the ear of many moderate and conservative Democrats with his talk ...

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