Since the party split of 1824 when the Democrat-Republican party became 2 separate parties, progressives or liberal democrats have sought more government oversight and fewer individual rights. Federalists, Whigs and later Republicans, who believed that the rights granted in the Constitution were necessary to achieve the type of nation they sought to create, were loudest and garnered the most support for their position. It was not until the Progressive movement from 1890-1920 that progressives began to take a stand and raise their voice. Progressives were able to grab the platforms of Womens Suffarage, income taxes and prohibition and focus their voice and energy on engaging Conservatives on them. Progressives were not done with these issues, instead Roosevelt came along in the 30’s during the Great Depression and promised his “New Deal” promising to pull America out of it’s darkest days. Roosevelt’s new deal was a giant new step in the Progressive movement. In fact, the “First New Deal” and subsequent “Second New Deal” became a comprehensive redistribution of wealth and power in America and lead the country away from the intended nation of the founding fathers and more towords a socialist state. Roosevelt has since become the great legacy of the progressives. Since that time, there has been a constant battle between conservatives and progressives(now called liberals) regarding how the country should be run. From Roosevelt and perhaps Kennedy, although his term was too short to determine how progressive he actually was, until Jimmy Carter, there was not a strong voice either way and the role of the President seemed to be assumed by moderates from either side with one scandal after another. Carter was, well he was an abomination as a President. He failed at just about everything he tried and while that is not necessarily a reason to disqualify someone (see Lincoln) in the case of Jimmy Carter, he not only failed but took America with him. Carter forced conservation and encouraged wearing sweaters (shades of tire guages?) in his attempt to solve the 1970’s energy crisis. Carter didn’t go after new domestic sources of oil, instead he favored sweaters and wood burning stoves. Carter’s progressive support base waned as the energy crisis dragged on and by 1980 when Ronald Reagan ran against Carter for the White House, Americans were fed up with the socialist lack of answers. Reagan ran on a platform of “bold colors, not pale pastels”. He highlighted the differences between socialist progressives and free market conservatives. Reagan appealed to many Americans because he promised to get the government out of the way and let the people themselves define the answers and solutions to the problems America faced. Progressives were increasingly quieted during his two terms in office because they saw that America was not going to listen to them. Reagan drew distinctions betweent he socialist regime in Russia, where freedoms Americans held dear were not granted and where the slightest hint of possible dissention to government control often led to death. It was because of Reagan’s strong language in condenming the socialists in Russia, that the progressive voice was silenced. Since Reagan the trend toword more moderate Presidents has happened again. George H.W. Bush, Bill Clinton and George W. Bush cannot be considered boldly different from one another. While all their positions differ from each other, there is too much common ground to classify them as remarkably different from any of the others. During this time Progressives have seen an opportunity to increase their influence. Especially during the increasingly unpopular war in Iraq which pushed George W. Bush’s approval rating to the lowest marks recorded, progresives have been more apt to speak out with their ideas. As the recent economic and energy crisies have caused a larger divide between Conservative principled ideas and Socialist liberal agendas, liberal Democrats like Maxine Waters and Barack Obama have been more bold than ever in speaking out in favor of socialism. Not even during the Roosevelt or Carter campaigns were the words socialized or universal used to describe big government ventures. Now, with Obama leading in the polls, progrssives like Maxine Waters, who said at a recent hearing with oil executives that she “would be all about socializing..I mean the government taking over, and running all of your companies”, are becoming more brazen in the use of the words socialize, socilists and universal. Liberal Democrats from New York to San Francisico are beginning to push forward the agenda of the government stepping in and taking over banks, energy companies, oil companies, healthcare companies, insurance companies and educational institutions. Progressives have been able to build their ranks throughout the years and positioned many of their own within the higher education system, the political arena and in major business areas. The progresive sphere of influence continues to grow as the generations cycle and more and more of our children become indoctrinated that the government knows best. Much like the Russians quietly buying up energy sources and the Chinese disguising their communism with free enterprise business markets, socialist liberals have quietly infiltrated and taken over schools like Harvard, Yale, NYU, Princeton and other major Universities. With Obama as the new party leader, pushing forth a socilist agenda behind the façade of a historic moment, the progressive movement had begun to flourish. While the language still permeates the landscape, recent poll numbers show that not all of America is buying into the hype. It appears there are still some Americans who can look past the color of Baracks skin and focus on the content of his message and character. This may be the biggest blunder progressives have made since prohibition.