A terrible thing happened to the Left in the past couple of decades. They had ridden high in the confidence that, as a practical matter, economic debates would never be to the right of Keynes, and foreign policy debates would never get to the right of George Kennan. Thus, Milton Friedman was dismissable, Goldwater was easily trounced, and Nixon declared us "all Keyensians", attempted to freeze wages and prices, and pursued detente. Nixon represented the viable Right: think about it!.....
Anyway, when Reagan got the GOP nomination, they were sure that they could destroy his reputation the way they had defamed Goldwater, but to their dismay, he won! Well, then they figured they could drive him out, one way or another, but they did not. Finally, they decided that they could destroy his legacy. The only problem is that he ended the Cold War and presided over a lengthy boom. The had predicted exacerbated relations with the Soviet Union, and eventual economic collapse. (One of the things that interests me is that the 90s were supposed to harvest the misery of the Reagan years. What did Clinton do to stave that off?)Thus, the continual gyrations to explain it all away, or make too much out of problems like the national debt. Think of the horror: the lid is off, the Republicans can even capture the House! |
