Editing Reagan Democrat (section)

==Reagan Democrats in the 1990s==
The demographic shift that Reagan tapped into continued into the 1990s after he left office. The Democrats responded with new themes. This is evidenced by the rise of [[Bill Clinton]] to the presidency during the 1992 presidential election. In that campaign, candidate Clinton billed himself as "a different kind of Democrat",<ref>{{cite journal |title=The Making of the New Democrats |first=Jon F. |last=Hale |journal=[[Political Science Quarterly]] |volume=110 |issue=2 |year=1995 |pages=207–232 |doi=10.2307/2152360 |jstor=2152360}}</ref> and forswore many older Democratic Party policies in favor of centrist [[Third Way]] policies that were championed by the [[Democratic Leadership Council]] in hopes of reconnecting with many working-class voters who had voted Republican in presidential campaigns since 1968—the silent majority of Nixon and the Reagan Democrats.

Many self-styled Reagan Democrats claim to be [[fiscal conservatives]] but still support many aspects of the core programs of the [[New Deal]] and the [[Great Society]] while also supporting Reagan's strong defense policies and his optimism in American culture. They still voted for Democratic politicians in the legislative and state elections until mid-1990s. Some elements of the [[Tea Party movement]] fit this sketch but many other independents and Democrats could fall into the same category as well. One of the most prominent self-styled Reagan Democrats includes the one-time Virginia Senator [[Jim Webb]] (who was in office from 2007 to 2013),<ref>{{cite news |last=Dionne |first=E. J. |date=February 11, 2011 |title=Jim Webb: The Last Jacksonian Democrat |url=http://www.realclearpolitics.com/2011/02/11/jim_webb_the_last_jacksonian_democrat_250335.html |access-date=January 16, 2025 |work=The Washington Post |via=RealClearPolitics}}</ref> whom columnist [[David Paul Kuhn]] asserts is the quintessential Reagan Democrat and one of the last of an "endangered species" within the Democratic Party.<ref>{{cite web |last=Kuhn |first=David Paul |date=November 8, 2010 |title=Jim Webb: Why Reagan Dems Still Matter |url=http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2010/11/08/jim_webb_why_reagan_dems_still_matter_107875.html |access-date=January 16, 2025 |website=RealClearPolitics}}</ref>

In 2012, conservative commentator [[George Will]], observing the long-term movements of partisanship, said: "White voters without college education—economically anxious and culturally conservative—were called 'Reagan Democrats' when they were considered only seasonal Republicans because of Ronald Reagan. Today they are called the Republican base."<ref>{{cite news |first=George F. |last=Will |title=Suddenly, a fun candidate |newspaper=[[Washington Post]] |date=January 4, 2012 |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/suddenly-a-fun-candidate/2012/01/04/gIQAnn0jaP_story.html}}</ref>