hard-headed

On one hand, we have the abject failure of the supposedly hard-headed centrists, who spent 40 years doing the bidding of bankers and plutocrats while promising that slashing government spending and deregulating the financial markets — along with the other dogmas of neoliberal gospel — would someday, somehow, bring universal prosperity.

Levy's reputation as a hard-headed businessman - with former Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson famously describing him as "more painful to deal with than a hip replacement" - disguised a rarely-seen softer side.

Whether that’s hard-headed realpolitik or deep-seated cynicism and corruption is up for debate, but it should sound familiar to anyone acquainted with the Democratic Party’s 40-year trajectory.

He has played the hard-headed Brian Aldridge for 50 years, and wants to carry on for at least a little longer.

Andrew Cuomo—the hard-headed former governor of New York state —became something of a national hero in 2020 with his no-nonsense press conferences.