No ‘Sister Soulja Moment’: Democrats Embrace Radical Race & Gender Ideas

Democrats are in trouble in 2022. That much is obvious. Inflation, crime, rising energy prices, persistent Covid alarmism, a disastrous and humiliating end to our 20-year engagement in Afghanistan, and a presidential administration that has utterly failed to deliver on Joe Biden’s campaign-trail message of “a return to normalcy” — all roads point toward a red wave in the November midterms.

But Democrats are also facing an institutional problem that could pose a longer-term challenge to their political ambitions. The party seems incapable of distancing itself from the Left’s increasingly radical stance on contemporary culture-war issues such as critical race theory (CRT) and radical sexual and gender ideology. It has often been said that American voters lean center-left on economics and center-right on culture — and while that’s an obvious oversimplification, it’s true that Democrats tend to win when they emphasize the popular economic parts of their platform (health care, generous public spending, and so on). But even in the face of a coming red wave, the party has continued to double down on the deeply unpopular left-wing cultural ideology that has captured the imagination of its activist class.

About the Author

Nate Hochman

Nate Hochman was a staff writer at National Review.

Featured Tags

Manage following

Democrats

Democrats are in trouble in 2022. That much is obvious. Inflation, crime, rising energy prices, persistent Covid alarmism, a disastrous and humiliating end to our 20-year engagement in Afghanistan, and a presidential administration that has utterly failed to deliver on Joe Biden’s campaign-trail message of “a return to normalcy” — all roads point toward a red wave in the November midterms.

But Democrats are also facing an institutional problem that could pose a longer-term challenge to their political ambitions. The party seems incapable of distancing itself from the Left’s increasingly radical stance on contemporary culture-war issues such as critical race theory (CRT) and radical sexual and gender ideology. It has often been said that American voters lean center-left on economics and center-right on culture — and while that’s an obvious oversimplification, it’s true that Democrats tend to win when they emphasize the popular economic parts of their platform (health care, generous public spending, and so on). But even in the face of a coming red wave, the party has continued to double down on the deeply unpopular left-wing cultural ideology that has captured the imagination of its activist class.