Conservative Democrat
After 1980, the Republicans became a mostly right-wing conservative party, with conservative leaders such as Newt Gingrich, Trent Lott, and Tom DeLay, while the Democrats, while keeping their core liberal bases intact with such Senators as Ted Kennedy, Christopher Dodd, and Paul Sarbanes, grew a substantial moderate/centrist wing, the New Democrats, in the 1990s in place of their old conservative wing, with leaders such as Bill Clinton, Al Gore, and Evan Bayh. In the 2010 midterm elections, many conservative Democrats lost their seats to the Republicans.
The Reactionary Mind
Alex Gourevitch praised Robin for attempting to develop a comprehensive understanding of conservatism and for trying to examine conservative ideas rather than dismissing them outright. He also praised Robin for examining how conservatism can learn from the political left. However, Goutrevitch also criticsed Robin, arguing that Robin dismissed important differences between different branches of conservatism, as well as similarities between the political left and right, which Gourevitch felt hurt Robin's thesis. He also questioned if conservatives actually intended to defend hierarchies or if these are simply a consequence of conservative ideals, observing examples such as libertarianism, which often results in hierarchies yet libertarians regard themselves as defending freedom and opposing domination while viewing leftists as introducing their own forms of domination.