599 | Henry Tonks: The Realignments Comes for the Democrats - Lessons from Liberalism's 1970s-1990s Wilderness Years

The Realignment

Saager Enjeti, Technology, Policy, News, Marshall Kosloff, International Relations, Politics, News Commentary, Public Policy, U.s. Politics, National Security, Economics

4.8 • 2.5K Ratings

🗓️ 31 March 2026

⏱️ 86 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Henry Tonks, Postdoctoral Fellow at Kenyon College's Center for the Study of American Democracy, joins The Realignment. Marshall and Henry discuss why the post-2024 election Trump realignment failed to materialize, why opposition to the Trump presidency wins elections, but isn't a sufficient governing strategy, the fall of liberal ideology since the Reagan presidency, the lessons of the Democratic Party and American liberalism's wilderness years from the 1970s to the 1990s, and why the future of the liberal project looks more like "fusion" rather than "faction."

Transcript

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0:00.0	Marshall here, welcome back to the realignment. After Donald Trump returned to the White House in
0:06.1	2024, many commentators declared that America had entered a new political era, a realignment
0:12.3	potentially at the level of FDR and Reagan in 1932 and 1980, respectively. While Trump didn't
0:19.6	have either president's electoral margins, the narrative
0:22.6	power of his comeback victory was such that we could see ourselves describing 2024 as another
0:28.5	critical turning point in American history. Today's episode is premised on the idea that this narrative
0:33.8	is wrong. The realignment is only partially finished. Conservatism in the GOP
0:38.8	aren't what they were before Trump, and anyone trying to turn back the clock is pursuing a fool's
0:43.8	errand. However, the opportunity is now shifted to the left side of the aisle when it comes to
0:49.3	reimagining what the political offerings at hand are. My guest is my friend and historian of liberalism
0:56.9	and the 20th century Democratic Party, Henry Tonks. Henry believes that the U.S. is in the middle
1:02.2	of a messy political status quo, when either party can hold power, no consensus has emerged,
1:07.9	and both sides are searching for a durable governing vision.
1:11.9	Our conversation turns to the Democratic Party and American liberalism, where oppositions of
1:16.8	Trump appears to be the winning electoral strategy ahead of the 26 midterms, but not a governing
1:23.3	one. We also explore a deeper problem, the collapse of liberal ideology since the 1970s. Without a
1:29.9	clear liberal story about the past 30 years and about what liberals believe in what country they
1:35.9	want to build, even ambitious policy agendas will struggle to gain traction. Drawing from history,
1:42.2	from the New Deal to the neoliberal Clinton era turn in the 1990s,
1:48.0	we examined the death of liberalism as a clear point of view and set up ideas and what it would take to rebuild it today.
1:55.0	I hope you all enjoy the conversation.
1:58.0	Henry Talks, welcome to The Realignment. Thank you, Marshall. It's wonderful to be here as a keen listener to the conversation. Henry Tonks, welcome to The Realignment.
	...

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