DBWI: Does anyone else hate this cliche?

You know, "Democrat wins in 1976 only to shellacked by a Republican hence causing the Democrats to move to the right"?

I mean, it made sense at first, but soon it was overused to the extreme!
 
My least favorite is when its Carters fault, seriously? What did Carter do to you in a past life? Did he murder your family?
 

shiftygiant

Gone Fishin'
OOC: I think I get it- OP's DBTL is one where a 1976 Democrat is beaten by a Republican in 1980, and shift to the Right. Which would require a PoD in the 1930's.
 

cpip

Gone Fishin'
OOC: OK, can someone please explain what's going on?

OTL, it's conventional political wisdom that literally no Republican could have won 1976, after the mess that was Watergate and the tarnishing of the Republican brand; but equally so that no Democrat could have won 1980. OTL, the Democratic response after the losses of 1980 and 1984 was Jackson/Hart/Clinton "triangulation" -- a move towards a centrist/rightist position, rather than doubling down on the more liberal stances displayed by, say, Mo Udall. (By comparison, see the 21st century Republican party's continued moves towards more conservative stances following electoral defeats in 2008 and 2012.)

Clearly, in this DBWI, something else happened, and OTL's conventional wisdom is the DBTL's cliché of AH.
 
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