I didn't leave the Democratic Party. The party left me.

Ronald Wilson Reagan (February 6, 1911 - June 5, 2004), beloved by Republicans everywhere as the very embodiment of The Grand Old Party, was a Democrat until 1962, famously uttering the remark above.

Some of the party returned, though, in 1980 and again in 1984, to help propel him toward the presidency.

These "Reagan Democrats" were generally blue-collar voters from the North who switched their party allegiance to support Reagan, who they felt shared their traditional values but would also be responsive to the concerns of the working class.

Reagan strongly favored limited government and delivered the message with his trademark wit and sagacity.

I have wondered at times what the Ten Commandments would have looked like if Moses had run them through the US Congress.

Government's view of the economy could be summed up in a few short phrases: If it moves, tax it. If it keeps moving, regulate it.
And if it stops moving, subsidize it.

Government's first duty is to protect the people, not run their lives.

Government exists to protect us from each other. Where government has gone
beyond its limits is in deciding to protect us from ourselves.

I hope you're all Republicans.
(Speaking to the surgeons as he entered the operating room following a 1981 assassination attempt. To which Dr. Joseph Giordano replied: "We're all Republicans today.")