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The cover story of this week's Newsweek reflects on "how a President Obama might govern a center-right nation."

It begins with an anecdote of a December 1985 New York dinner celebrating the "Age of Reagan." Then the story travels to Greensboro:

A month before, in November 1985, Al From, the former staff director of the House Democratic Caucus, had been in North Carolina, flying from Raleigh to Greensboro, on a trip to talk wavering Democrats into staying in the fold after Mondale. "The common charge we heard from voters was that 'we didn't leave the Democratic Party, the Democratic Party left us'," says From, whose organization, the Democratic Leadership Council, was trying to move the party rightward toward the center. Dick Gephardt, Joe Biden, Sam Nunn and Lawton Chiles were among those flying with From, and things were not going well. "It was a miserable day, and our trip was about to be aborted," From says. There was congressional business in Washington, and From had already canceled the last leg of the journey, an event in Charlotte. Landing in Greensboro in the rain, the group made its gloomy way to an airport hotel for a fundraiser. "We were sure no one would show up," From says. "But when we got there we saw people lined up out the door." As he recalls it, the message of the occasion was straightforward: "We were trying to reconnect the Democratic Party with mainstream America."

In these two moments from a now distant year -- the dinner at the Plaza and the gathering in Greensboro—lie the roots of our politics.

Actually, it was October 1985. Oct. 21 to be exact. 335 tickets were sold to the luncheon at the Sheraton that day.

Here's how reporter Chuck Alston began his story of that meeting.

Remember "Mondale-liberal," the political label that Republican Sen. Jesse Helms sewed on former Democratic Gov. Jim Hunt during the 1984 campaign?

The Democratic Leadership Council, a group of moderate and conservative Democrats out to reshape the party in its image, remembers the label all too well. To the GOP's advantage, the liberal image of Walter Mondale, the Democratic presidential candidate, wore like a lead weight on Hunt and other Southern Democrats.

In a two-day visit to North Carolina that ended Monday in Greensboro, council members made it clear that the National Democratic Party must tailor a new label for Democrats to wear into 1988.

"We are trying to make it safe for state and local officials to identify themselves with the national party and survive," Sen. Sam Nunn, D-Georgia, told a Greensboro luncheon in explaining the council's mission.

Organized last March, the council counts 17 senators, 61 representatives and 10 governors, mostly from the South and West, in its membership. Operating outside the national Democratic Party, the council is seeking changes in structure and platform that will broaden the party's appeal, especially in the South.

Rep. Richard Gephardt, D-Mo., the DLC chairman, said its task is to preseve the party's "old values," but deliver them with "new ideas."

Council members delivered this message over cocktails, supper and breakfast in Raleigh, at lunch in Greensboro and in press conferences in both cities. The tough-talking messengers were Sens. Lawton Chiles, D-Fla., Joe Biden, D-Del., and Nunn, and Gephardt and Rep. Steve Neal, D-N.C.

Speaking bluntly about the party's recent past, the described a dim future unless change in forthcoming. The party, DLC members said, must pitch for "mainstream America" and shed its image as a captive of liberal interest groups.

"The perception, whether we like it or not...is that (the Democratic Party) has gone to the left, while the country has gone to right," Chiles said.

Despite From's memory about things in Raleigh not going well, Alston reports that "In general, the DLC and its message were greeted eagerly during the two days."

Alston didn't mention From in his story. Biden, of course, is running for vice president. Chiles is the uncle of Kay Hagan, who is running for U.S. Senate. And Chuck Alston ended up working as executive director of the DLC for several years.

Giles Lambertson was an editorial columnist for the newspaper at the time. He also attended and wrote a column about the luncheon. Some excerpts:

When Biden said his was a party of opportunity and optimism, he tried to illustrate it by remembering how his favorite president, John Kennedy, had set America's sights on the moon -- a bold initiative. "He had no notion how that would be done," he said. For some reason, the Strategic Defense Initiative of Ronald Reagan popped into my mind.

As it turned out Nunn himself showed true leadership and courage in this comment: "Black leadership also is going to have to move to the mainstream" as the party pursues what is in "the best interest of the majority as well as the minority." That's saying something.

And Biden, finally, indicated a basic misunderstanding of what leadership means, saying: "The American people rejected our stagnation, not what we stood for." The truth is, senator, the party stood for stagnation, and that's exactly what the American people rejected.