The ever reasonable Brad DeLong swims against the tide of “conservatives won by losing” historical consensus:
A political edge, yes. But not a policy edge. Medicare. Medicaid. The EPA. OSHA. Goldwaterism certainly did–in the long run–unmake Republican Party commitment to the New Deal Consensus. But in the short run Goldwaterism had other consequences: the damage it did to Republican congressional power were the only things that made the Great Society possible. The Johnson-era expansions of the social insurance state and the Nixon and post-Nixon-era expansions of the regulatory state were possible only on congressional foundations that had been created by Goldwater’s Samson act directed against the Republican establishment.
Perhaps the lesson for beleaguered liberals is that both short and long term battles matter. Democrats have to do the difficult task of strengthening their ideological fortitude - and its resonance with the general public - at the same time they negotiate the specific policy battles in the legislative realm.
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