Some of the saddest words in American cinema are the last lines of Easy Rider: “We blew it.” The dream of freedom, the moment of opportunity, the hope of beginning again, the promise of revival — all failed, until all that remains is the recognition of failure. Donald Trump was born in the first wave of the baby boom in 1946, came of age in the pivotal year of 1967, and became the last of the boomer presidents. He blew it. They blew it. Only the Democrats can save the Republicans now.

In 2024, Trump and the Republicans offered to restore the American compact. Cut the knots of bureaucratized stagnation and oligarchic corruption in Washington, D.C.; enforce the law at the borders and in the courts; restore free speech in the media and on the campus; oil the wheels of the economy with onshoring and AI, and the old jalopy of the democratic republic would roar back into life and streak ahead of the competition. The people bought it. And now they are paying for it.