America's Right Turn

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federal deficit and economics, the legacy of Reagan and Bush. Further, the author argues Clinton continued to shift his politics away from the left and more toward middle-ground, to the point of co-opting numerous issues of the Republican agenda while still supporting popular Democratic programs, "While rhetorically proclaiming that 'the era of big government is over,' Clinton also co-opted Republican positions on family values, crime, welfare reform, and a balanced budget…Thus, this New Democrat had absorbed well the chief political lesson of the day, that had gone too far and needed to be deflected back toward the center, where most Americans felt comfortable with government's limited agenda for change and community" (Berman 192).
Berman shows how cultural and economic issues have been inextricably linked to the success of either the conservative Republicans of the liberal Democrats since Roosevelt's New Deal created a moderate welfare state. By the 1970s and 1980s, many ...

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remained a driving force throughout both conservative and liberal administrations. Part of the reason for the shifting mentality of American voters was America's struggle during the 1980s to regain its political and economic hegemony. America seemed in jeopardy of losing its unlimited ability for profit, and millions of lost jobs added fuel to the fire. It was a fire that Reagan's policies were able to squelch, but the policies came at the expense of the poor and working class. Carter's inefficacy where the national economy was helped fuel the conservative fervor sweeping across America. Americans began to lose faith in the Democratic party as being able to responsibly handle the ...

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