2025-11-08
45 分钟The Economist.
The president wanted action, but his senators weren't going along.
It was 1938.
President Franklin Roosevelt wanted to sign his New Deal reforms into law,
but Southern Democrats like Senator Walter George were blocking him.
So, in a fireside chat, FDR said he'd get involved in Democratic primaries.
Critics would call it the purge.
And when FDR traveled to Georgia,
he campaigned against Walter George, the senator from his own party, while the two shared the stage.
But the purge failed.
George would win reelection, and so would others who FDR tried to unseat.
They'd be motivated to further stymie their own Democratic party's progressive aims.
Now, Democrats are celebrating victories in New Jersey, Virginia, and New York.
But today, just like in 1938, there are sharp distinctions as to which ideological direction the party should take.
I'm John Prideaux, and this is Checks and Balance from the Economist.
Each week we take one big theme shaping American politics and explore it in depth.
Today, after a string of electoral successes on Tuesday, we'll be discussing what to make of the results.
Are the Democrats back? Is socialism the answer?
And how come only a year ago this week we were discussing Donald Trump's victory in the presidential election?
Are voters terminally indecisive or is something else going on here?