CARTER ADMINISTRATION’S INABILITY TO help blue-collar workers made Ronald Reagan’s economic message—tax cuts for everyone—sound better all the time. A longtime Democrat in West Allis, Wisconsin, who had crossed over in that state’s open primary to vote for Reagan, explained to Time, “Inflation is eating us up, welfare is a mess, we don’t have any power in this country—why shouldn’t we switch?” Besides, Reagan “would return us to
