Were they repudiating the whole Obama agenda or just registering a protest against hard times?
As for the first world war, this year started with a group of historians repudiating any German guilt for the catastrophe – and pinning some of it on Britain.
Gavin Barwell, MP for racially diverse Croydon Central, in south London, wants the prime minister to make a speech repudiating the "cricket test" set by Norman Tebbit, a Thatcherite former cabinet minister who condemned migrants for cheering their ancestral homelands in matches against England.
Government ministers are warier: repudiating the convention would enrage the Lib Dems, weaken Britain's voice as a defender of human rights and might clash with Britain's EU membership.
This is not a matter of repudiating conservatism and becoming a vapid "centrist"—which he could not plausibly do, and should not in any case try to do.
Facing a tough challenge from both Mr Ahn and the opposition candidate, Moon Jae-in, Ms Park took the awkward step (especially in a Confucian society) of repudiating her own father.A second common factor is rage against corruption.
Last week, in the same state where Republicans are trumpeting the freedom of religion as a cover for discriminating against gays and lesbians, a hearing took place formally repudiating the notion that the freedom of contract and association can justify discrimination against blacks.
Voters were more likely registering a protest at the economy than repudiating an ideology.
He has tried to steer a middle course, repudiating many of Goni's policies but resisting the protesters' demands for wholesale nationalisation.
Various prominent Shias then struggled to distance themselves from Mr Fayed's words without actually repudiating them.
Mr Miliband won the leadership by specifically repudiating much of Mr Blair's "New Labour" politics, vanquishing his more Blairite brother David in the process.
