Twenty years ago, no one could have imagined what America would be like right now. Who would have thought that preferred pronouns would be a thing? Could anyone imagine a feminist thinking it was okay for a biological male to compete in women’s sports and consistently crush the competition? Race relations have gotten worse because everything is racialized. If you’re not racist, you probably still are racist because of microaggressions or something. We just had a nominee to the Supreme Court testify that she could not define what a woman is because she is “not a biologist.” This week, we learned that gender-neutral passports will be a thing because some people don’t “identify” as male or female.
How did we get here? How is it possible that, in such a short period, America has gone crazy?
The truth is, America hasn’t gone crazy. These radical ideas of the so-called progressive left are not mainstream. In fact, according to the Pew Research Center, the progressive left only makes up 6% of the population and only 12% of the Democratic Party. Yet their influence on the culture and society is unmatched.
According to Neil Patel at The Daily Signal, there’s a reason. Not only does this subset vote and donate to candidates at “a higher rate than almost any other political grouping,” but they are also “overrepresented in many key positions of influence, including academia, media, Hollywood, and, increasingly, corporate America.”
Despite their overrepresentation in critical positions of influence, Patel notes that the far left’s agenda doesn’t poll well. From defunding the police to open borders, the far left’s views are consistently out of the mainstream.
“Seventy-five percent of the far left thinks other countries are better than America. Fewer than a quarter of all Americans share that view,” Patel notes. “Sixty percent of the far left wants leaders who identify as socialists. Again, less than a quarter of the general population share that view. Sixty-two percent of the far left feels that success in life is predetermined—yet another view shared by less than a quarter of all Americans.”
With the far left so out of touch, it ought to be easier for conservatives to win at the ballot box and the culture war. Unfortunately, one key example of how the right has ceded ground on an issue they shouldn’t have is the Parental Rights bill in Florida. Yes, it was passed by the state legislature and signed, but the left has managed to falsely market the bill as the “Don’t Say Gay” bill. An overwhelming majority of people support the legislation’s actual text, yet the radical left managed to stir up outrage with an easily disproven claim about the bill’s intent.
“The left is so good at marketing its policies that even many on the right join in,” Patel observed. He’s right; I previously reported how conservative news outlets have also called the Parental Rights Bill the “Don’t Say Gay” bill.
The clear lesson here is that Republicans need to better define the left by the radical social policies they are pushing. Patel believes Republicans can win over minority groups this way, and I agree. We’ve seen Latino voters voting increasingly Republican in the past few years. Biden’s support among black voters has also cratered, presenting a tremendous opportunity for Republicans to main inroads with African American voters.
If Republicans can market their beliefs with the same effectiveness as Democrats, they’d be able to counter the radical left’s disproportionate influence.
