Changes

The "Reagan Democrats"  were Democrats before the Reagan years, and afterward, but they voted for Ronald Reagan in 1980 and 1984 (and for [[George H. W. Bush]] in 1988), producing landslide victories.  Jesse Jackson became the first African-American to win states in a major party primary election for president in 1984. But vote rigging by [[Superdelegate]]s at the convention sabotaged his efforts.<ref>[https://www.nytimes.com/1984/05/20/us/disparity-between-jackson-s-vote-and-delegate-count-vexes-party.html DISPARITY BETWEEN JACKSON'S VOTE AND DELEGATE COUNT VEXES PARTY], by DAVID E. ROSENBAUM, ''New York Times'', May 20, 1984.</ref> Reagan Democrats were mostly white ethnics in the Northeast who were attracted to Reagan on issues such as jobs, abortion, and his strong foreign policy. Stanley Greenberg, a Democratic pollster analyzed white ethnic voters, largely unionized auto workers, in suburban Macomb County, Michigan, just north of Detroit. The county voted 63 percent for Kennedy in 1960 and 66 percent for Reagan in 1984. Restrictive oil drilling, high energy prices, unrestricted Japanese auto imports, and 17% auto loans caused by federal deficits and inflation destroyed their jobs. Greenberg concluded that many working families no longer saw Democrats as champions of their interests.  Bill Clinton resuscitated racist dog whistles with considerable success in 1992 and 1996.  

The "Reagan Democrats"  were Democrats before the Reagan years, and afterward, but they voted for Ronald Reagan in 1980 and 1984 (and for [[George H. W. Bush]] in 1988), producing landslide victories.  Jesse Jackson became the first African-American to win states in a major party primary election for president in 1984. But vote rigging by [[Superdelegate]]s at the convention sabotaged his efforts.<ref>[https://www.nytimes.com/1984/05/20/us/disparity-between-jackson-s-vote-and-delegate-count-vexes-party.html DISPARITY BETWEEN JACKSON'S VOTE AND DELEGATE COUNT VEXES PARTY], by DAVID E. ROSENBAUM, ''New York Times'', May 20, 1984.</ref> Reagan Democrats were mostly white ethnics in the Northeast who were attracted to Reagan on issues such as jobs, abortion, and his strong foreign policy. Stanley Greenberg, a Democratic pollster analyzed white ethnic voters, largely unionized auto workers, in suburban Macomb County, Michigan, just north of Detroit. The county voted 63 percent for Kennedy in 1960 and 66 percent for Reagan in 1984. Restrictive oil drilling, high energy prices, unrestricted Japanese auto imports, and 17% auto loans caused by federal deficits and inflation destroyed their jobs. Greenberg concluded that many working families no longer saw Democrats as champions of their interests.  Bill Clinton resuscitated racist dog whistles with considerable success in 1992 and 1996.  

[[File:Ted and Brezhnev.jpeg|right|200px|thumb|Sen. Ted Kennedy colluding with Soviet Premier Leonid Brezhnev to interfere in the 1984 Presidential election.]]

[[File:Ted and Brezhnev.jpeg|right|200px|thumb|Sen. Ted Kennedy colluding with Soviet Premier Leonid Brezhnev to interfere in the 1984 Presidential election.]]

Democratic party leaders, officially and unofficially, [[collude]]d with the [[KGB]] to interfere in American elections and affect U.S. [[foreign policy]]. A 1983 KGB memo<ref>[http://sweetness-light.com/archive/kgb-letter-details-ted-kennedys-offer-to-help-ussr Kennedy collusion with the KGB].</ref> describes a meeting between former KGB officials and former Democratic Sen. John Tunney (Sen. Kennedy's confidant) in Moscow. Tunney asked the KGB to convey a message to [[Yuri Andropov]], the Soviet leader, proposing a campaign in which Kennedy would visit [[Moscow]] to offer talking points to Andropov and Soviet officials on how to attack Reagan's policies to U.S. audiences. According to the memo, Kennedy, through the intermediary, offered to help facilitate a media tour in a proposed visit by Andropov to the United States.  Kennedy's hope was to hurt Reagan politically on foreign policy at a time when the economic recovery was working in his favor.<ref>[http://www.frontpagemag.com/readArticle.aspx?ARTID=30980  Jamie Glazov; ''Ted Kennedy and the KGB'' FrontPageMagazine.com (Thursday, May 15, 2008)]</ref>

Democratic party leaders, officially and unofficially, [[collude]]d with the [[KGB]] to interfere in American elections and affect U.S. [[foreign policy]]. A 1983 KGB memo<ref>[http://sweetness-light.com/archive/kgb-letter-details-ted-kennedys-offer-to-help-ussr Kennedy collusion with the KGB].</ref> describes a meeting between former KGB officials and former Democratic Sen. John Tunney (Sen. Kennedy's confidant) in Moscow. Tunney asked the KGB to convey a message to [[Yuri Andropov]], the Soviet leader, proposing a campaign in which Kennedy would visit [[Moscow]] to offer talking points to Andropov and Soviet officials on how to attack Reagan's policies to U.S. audiences. According to the memo, Kennedy, through the intermediary, offered to help facilitate a media tour in a proposed visit by Andropov to the United States.  Kennedy's hope was to hurt Reagan politically on foreign policy at a time when the economic recovery was working in his favor.<ref>[http://www.frontpagemag.com/readArticle.aspx?ARTID=30980  Jamie Glazov; ''Ted Kennedy and the KGB'' FrontPageMagazine.com (Thursday, May 15, 2008)]</ref>