HOW THE DEMOCRATS GOT THEIR GROOVE BACK
Esquire US|October/November 2024
They've been flinching ever since Reagan, but the party has finally figured out who they are.
- CHARLES P. PIERCE
HOW THE DEMOCRATS GOT THEIR GROOVE BACK

IT WAS A JANUARY DAY IN 1981, COLD AND CLEAR. TWO MONTHS EARLIER, RONALD Reagan had swept aside incumbent Jimmy Carter to win the presidency. The Republicans had also gained a majority in the Senate for the first time since 1955, flipping nine Democratic seats and defeating liberal Democratic stalwarts Frank Church of Idaho, Birch Bayh of Indiana, ‹Gaylord Nelson of Wisconsin, John Culver of Iowa, and George McGovern, the 1972 Democratic presidential nominee and senator from South Dakota. It was a historic and massive electoral bloodbath.

In the ensuing two months, a feeling of cold dread had come over the lame-duck elements of the government. Reagan was a radical conservative, at least in the polite context of the center-left consensus that had prevailed in Washington since the end of World War II. He represented the reaction to the unrest of the 1960s and the backlash against the civil-rights movement. And that reaction and that backlash had congealed into a powerful political movement in which the Republican establishment had moved away from Wall Street and New England to go south and west, never really to return.

Over the weekend before Reagan’s inauguration, there was a kind of frenzy in Washington. I spent the night before with staffers from the office of the outgoing vice president, Walter Mondale, who taught me the words to the “Minnesota Rouser.” I also spent time with representatives from the embassy of Ireland, who were well into the whiskey hours because some congressman from South Carolina had invited the Rev. Ian Paisley, the Protestant firebrand from Northern Ireland, to the ceremony the next day. (This was long before his awakening to the peace process and the Good Friday Agreement.) It was a night on the edge, but nobody knew the edge of what, exactly.

この蚘事は Esquire US の October/November 2024 版に掲茉されおいたす。

7 日間の Magzter GOLD 無料トラむアルを開始しお、䜕千もの厳遞されたプレミアム ストヌリヌ、9,000 以䞊の雑誌や新聞にアクセスしおください。

この蚘事は Esquire US の October/November 2024 版に掲茉されおいたす。

7 日間の Magzter GOLD 無料トラむアルを開始しお、䜕千もの厳遞されたプレミアム ストヌリヌ、9,000 以䞊の雑誌や新聞にアクセスしおください。

ESQUIRE USのその他の蚘事すべお衚瀺
hasan minhaj had a very strange year
Esquire US

hasan minhaj had a very strange year

The comedian felt the wrath of the Internet AND lost a career-defining job opportunity. NOW he's back with an interview series, A NEW NETFLIX SPECIAL, and a fresh perspective on his COMEDY.

time-read
4 分  |
October/November 2024
the perfect girl friend
Esquire US

the perfect girl friend

Flirty, sexy, seductive, supportive. Your AI companion can be whatever you want her to be. And now a growing number of men are turning to bots to ease their loneliness or satisfy their kinks. The choices are endless. The emotions are real.

time-read
10+ 分  |
October/November 2024
thinker
Esquire US

thinker

Andrew Garfield has big ideas about life and death-even a theory about the nature of time. Over an afternoon at one of his favorite New York City haunts, the actor let us into his world.

time-read
10+ 分  |
October/November 2024
priceless
Esquire US

priceless

At HermÚs, Axel de Beaufort will make whatever you imagine. Its value can be measured not in dollars but in the hours spent crafting it and the beauty it adds to the world.

time-read
9 分  |
October/November 2024
shoes with staying power
Esquire US

shoes with staying power

The Shannon lace-up from Church's is a study in enduring style

time-read
1 min  |
October/November 2024
THE MIDLIFE CRISIS? TRY THE THREEQUARTER-LIFE QUANDARY.
Esquire US

THE MIDLIFE CRISIS? TRY THE THREEQUARTER-LIFE QUANDARY.

Black men's life expectancy is short, thanks to history. At 49, am I on the downslope?

time-read
6 分  |
October/November 2024
HOW THE DEMOCRATS GOT THEIR GROOVE BACK
Esquire US

HOW THE DEMOCRATS GOT THEIR GROOVE BACK

They've been flinching ever since Reagan, but the party has finally figured out who they are.

time-read
5 分  |
October/November 2024
WRITTEN ON THE BODY
Esquire US

WRITTEN ON THE BODY

As we age, we're fighting a losing battle against memory. Maybe that's why, in my 40s, I've tattooed myself with everything I can't bear to forget.

time-read
5 分  |
October/November 2024
I Wore This Jacket to Death. Now It's Even Better.
Esquire US

I Wore This Jacket to Death. Now It's Even Better.

Menswear designer Aaron Levine, who helped revitalize brands like Abercrombie & Fitch and Club Monaco, explains why he reaches for his Carhartt again and again and again

time-read
1 min  |
October/November 2024
Check Yourself
Esquire US

Check Yourself

Todd Snyder and Woolrich have teamed up to create a new breed of wearable luxury fashion. The iconic buffalo plaid remains a staple.

time-read
2 分  |
October/November 2024