BONNIE GREER
On the last day of Barack Obama’s presidency, an arc of American history came to an end. Or it appeared to. But his era was not—counter to much commentary— swept away by some unique and profound tide of populism, even though the angry and disenchanted have always formed an undercurrent in American politics. The new ascendancy of the right is attention-grabbing, and both Democrats and Republicans are struggling to come to terms with America’s new political atmosphere.
But this new Republican administration represents only a temporary triumph over the deeply-rooted liberal consensus which has shaped US civil society more profoundly than any other political tendency in American life. It is but one touchdown in a long-running game of political football played since the defeat of Senator Barry Goldwater, the conservative Republican presidential hopeful in 1964.