Both parties looked at the same country but saw different things. The last quarter of the twentieth century brought the easing of divorce laws, the legalization of abortion, the ending of “censorship,” and the new tolerance for “alternative lifestyles.” America’s academic, artistic, and media elite—often called the New Class—considered these events great advances for human freedom and dignity. But the other half of the nation looked out and saw moral decadence, social degeneration, and national decline.
