Ronald Reagan wearing cowboy hat at Rancho del Cielo. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Patrick J. Buchanan About | Email | Archive

On Nov. 3, 1969, Richard Nixon, his presidency about to be broken by massive anti-war demonstrations, called on “the great silent majority” to stand by him for peace with honor in Vietnam.

They did. Within days Nixon’s approval surged to 68 percent. The ferocious Republican partisan of the 1950s had won over millions of Democrats.

Why? Because sons and brothers of those Democrats were doing much of the fighting in Vietnam. If Nixon was standing by them, they would stand by him.

In 1972 Nixon would win 49 states. Ronald Reagan, backed by his “Reagan Democrats,” would win 44- and 49-state landslides.

Yet since Reagan went home, Democrats have won the popular vote in five of six presidential elections. The New Majority is history. The Reagan Democrats have departed. What happened? READ MORE>>>>>>>>>