the.com/realignment
When voters quietly swap teams and nobody admits they were ever on the other one.
means A major, lasting shift in how groups of voters or allegiances line up behind political parties or causes.
from Built from 'align' — to bring into a line, from French 'aligner,' ultimately from Latin 'linea' (line) — plus 're-' meaning 'again.' So literally 'to line up again.' Political scientists picked up 'realignment' to describe the big tectonic shifts in voter coalitions, the kind that happen a few times a century rather than every election cycle.
- not a mood swing
- takes decades, not one bad debate night
- classic example
- 1930s FDR turned the GOP into the party of business
- modern version
- class now predicts votes better than income does
- the tell
- leaders change parties fast, voters change identities slow