I suppose that depends how you define leftism. Given that I believe the linear left/right political scale is largely outdated and irrelevant, the term means nothing to me. I think in terms of conservatism, liberalism, and radicalism. And as things are right now, liberalism has basically conquered the world, and shows no sign of being replaced by anything any time soon. Of course, when I say liberalism, I mean classical liberalism, which I don't think is what you're thinking of.

How so? My reading of history might be wrong, but it strikes me that during the 1970s and 80s, the Dems were holding their feet against the door trying to ignore the end of the industrial era and pretend that massive structural changes in the economy weren't ocurring. It took a centrist governor to flat out say that if the Dems didn't move to the center, they'd never win again. He was then attacked by many on the left of his party as being 'republican-lite'. Thankfully, he ignored them. If you want to see Reagan's true ideological heir, look no further than Bill Clinton (I realize this is treading on holy writ for both sides, but what the hell).

If the right have no workable solutions, then you've really gotta ask yourself why so many of the things that were policy during the 1980s have more or less become accepted wisdom in American politics. Why are no Dems are suggesting we return to the pre-1980s Keynesian consensus?

The last 6? Don't you mean the last 30? The only movement that's been as powerful as the American conservative movement was the New Deal coalition. The GOP could not return to power for another 50 years, and everyone would still simply be operating in the framework the conservative movement established.

Seriously, don't you find it the slightest bit significant that the most successful Democratic president in the past 50 years governed like a moderate Republican? What does that indicate to you about the center of gravity in American politics?