Liberalism’s ascendancy, so confidently proclaimed just a year ago, now seems a thing of the past. Did it ever even begin? The 2006 and 2008 elections were perhaps more Republican defeats than Democratic victories, let alone liberal victories. But whatever its fortunes, there is a sense in which liberalism is indeed riding high: a substantive sense. And all who have a stake in liberalism — or in its defeat — would do well to understand it.
Image courtesy Obama White House Archives