From The Weekly Standard, the Midwesterner: Michael Barnes on the roots of Ronald Reagan; and the future of Reaganism: Jeffrey Bell on why American conservatism is alive and well in the 21st century. The "Southern Strategy," fulfilled: When Ronald Reagan's invoked "states' rights" in 1980, it helped seal a massive political realignment. Would America have been better off without Ronald Reagan? Nicholas Lemann reviews Decision Points by George W. Bush. A book salon on The Presidency of George W. Bush: The First Historical Assessment by Julian E. Zelizer. The undercovered story of the 2010 midterm elections has become clear: Americans have elected the most politically and theologically fundamentalist House of Representatives in modern history. Pricey political consultants, constant fundraising, fame-seeking leaders: A grassroots group cozies up to the DC establishment and alienates the activists who put it on the map (and part 2 and part 3). From The Nation, Johann Hari on how to build a Progressive Tea Party. From The American Prospect, Southern Discomfort: Democrats no longer need the South, but the region needs them; reclaiming middle-class America: If progressives want a winning theme that the right can't match, this is it; time for National Greatness Liberalism: Theda Skocpol on how our national economic fortune depends on reclaiming a credible role for large-scale public investment; and when the Democratic Leadership Council mattered: Glee over the DLC's demise misses the point of its founding and its sad history (and more on the DLC).
