The reason that the Democrats are on the wrong side of cultural issues today is they succeeded in defining their stance on those issues as right, good, and proper - and then reality proved that their success did nothing to improve the happiness and prosperity of any but a very select few Americans. The transgender rights movement wasn't …
The reason that the Democrats are on the wrong side of cultural issues today is they succeeded in defining their stance on those issues as right, good, and proper - and then reality proved that their success did nothing to improve the happiness and prosperity of any but a very select few Americans. The transgender rights movement wasn't satisfied with gaining acceptance for transgender individuals and defined transgender rights in a way that trampled the rights of biological women - both straight and gay - to have their own "penis-free" spaces. Black Lives Matter not only didn't make Black lives better, it made Black lives in many Black-majority neighborhoods much worse. DEI became an end in itself rather than a means to make organizations benefit from the contributions of previously excluded populations. Unregulated immigration didn't limit itself to the huddled masses of the tired and poor but instead brought massive burdens on local budgets and infrastructure and increased crime and disorder in many places. Harm reduction and housing first policies didn't get homeless people off the street but enabled them to die slowly, mired in addiction, mental illness, and economic hopelessness. The Green movement achieved few of its declared environmental goals but diverted resources from economic activity that powered the livelihoods of real people. Infrastructure programs diverted even more resources from real economic activity into bureaucratic tar pits that insured that none of the infrastructure actually got built.
American voters have seen that the Progressive vision of society and governance has not produced a new millennium of harmony and prosperity but instead has worsened societal tensions and economic turmoil to their detriment. For them, these are no longer cultural issues: they are bread and butter issues and quality of life issues. Since Progressives were not content to take a live and let live attitude regarding these issues, the voters aren't willing to take a live and let live attitude in their backlash. If Trump succeeds in making voters' lives better economically and less fraught socially, he will bury Progressivism as a viable political movement for a generation or more. (And without Progressivism, does the Democratic Party have anything to offer in contrast to Trump's version of Republican populism?)
The reason that the Democrats are on the wrong side of cultural issues today is they succeeded in defining their stance on those issues as right, good, and proper - and then reality proved that their success did nothing to improve the happiness and prosperity of any but a very select few Americans. The transgender rights movement wasn't satisfied with gaining acceptance for transgender individuals and defined transgender rights in a way that trampled the rights of biological women - both straight and gay - to have their own "penis-free" spaces. Black Lives Matter not only didn't make Black lives better, it made Black lives in many Black-majority neighborhoods much worse. DEI became an end in itself rather than a means to make organizations benefit from the contributions of previously excluded populations. Unregulated immigration didn't limit itself to the huddled masses of the tired and poor but instead brought massive burdens on local budgets and infrastructure and increased crime and disorder in many places. Harm reduction and housing first policies didn't get homeless people off the street but enabled them to die slowly, mired in addiction, mental illness, and economic hopelessness. The Green movement achieved few of its declared environmental goals but diverted resources from economic activity that powered the livelihoods of real people. Infrastructure programs diverted even more resources from real economic activity into bureaucratic tar pits that insured that none of the infrastructure actually got built.
American voters have seen that the Progressive vision of society and governance has not produced a new millennium of harmony and prosperity but instead has worsened societal tensions and economic turmoil to their detriment. For them, these are no longer cultural issues: they are bread and butter issues and quality of life issues. Since Progressives were not content to take a live and let live attitude regarding these issues, the voters aren't willing to take a live and let live attitude in their backlash. If Trump succeeds in making voters' lives better economically and less fraught socially, he will bury Progressivism as a viable political movement for a generation or more. (And without Progressivism, does the Democratic Party have anything to offer in contrast to Trump's version of Republican populism?)