IN: And now the advantages of that bonus are coming to an end . America is changing and the Democratic liberals might be able ( just ) to win a national election without the overwhelming support of the alienated white working class . If such a victory does n't happen this time , it will soon .
Why does the narrator believe the Democrats won the election ?

OUT: They appealed to disenchanted workers .

IN: Certainly no bloody foreigners and no enforced metrication and I ' ve now forgotten entirely what it was I was going to say . Best be on our way ! The ratcatcher suggested . Before they paint double yellow lines all round us and start charging us for entry .
What is the narrator and others around them railing against ?

OUT: They are against foreigners .

IN: So , here it is , the first day of another September , and I sit here in the virtual eve of my 26th birthday , I find that there is no better time than the present to write a retrospective narrative of the past year , my 25th year . It has been a crazy ride . If ever there were events or people that could have ignited a 1/4-life crisis , they occurred in my life over the past year . Let 's start at the beginning , and go from there .
What might have pre - empted this ?

OUT:
a milestone birthday and the first day of a new month