Big Deal: The 2006 Midterm Elections, the Progressive Project, and the Reagan-Bush Revolution

Abstract

Were the 2006 midterm elections a Big Deal or No Big Deal? On the surface, the outcome seems ordinary: a setback for the president's party in his sixth year, and a return to divided government. Taking a longer view, these elections are historically important. Democratic victories interrupted the work of a sustained Republican "revolution" rolling back the bipartisan Progressive project of the 20th Century in regulation, public provision and civil rights.