Liberalism, Conservatism and the Tea Party: The Meaning of the 2012 Election

The 2008 election looked like the end of a 28-year conservative era, and the dawn of a liberal one. The results of the 2010 election put this judgment in doubt. Liberalism seems less ascendant than liberals expected it to be, conservatism less dead than conservatives feared. This is partly thanks to the Tea Party—which raises its own questions about the future of conservative thought. So one can say that, as the 2012 election approaches, New Deal/Great Society liberalism is in trouble, and Reagan–Bush conservatism seems not up to the task as well.