We’re playing a long game, and these unfortunate results could prove to be God’s blessing in disguise.
I was upset on Wednesday. In my view, the Democratic Party — not just its self-described socialist faction — is a grave threat to America. But after having a bit more time to reflect on the news, I have convinced myself (maybe without any good reason) that the new regime could potentially bode well for Republicans in 2028.
As I know from my years surrounded by radical leftists on campus, the most progressive Democrats, as a way to signal their superior moral virtue, will likely refuse to cooperate with their own party (at least occasionally); the majority will suffer from internal divides that prevent “progress.” Whatever does get passed can be vetoed, or subjected to judicial review in the courts. The Democrats will ultimately fail to deliver on a wide range of promises, and at least some congressmen (maybe even most) will preoccupy themselves with lawfare against Trump. So I’m just not convinced that the personnel change is destined to produce disastrous policy changes.
The causes for Republicans to be optimistic about 2028 include the facts that (1) the Iran war can end and become irrelevant at the voting booth, (2) the economy can be improved, (3) some right-leaning ballot measures did well, and (4) progressives will interpret the election results as a license to reinstate wokeness and shift the party’s policies even further left, which will push people toward the right. In the past few days, we’ve already seen the earliest stages of that fourth point. The Congressional Equality Caucus posted online, “The American people have made their voices heard. The 120th Congress will officially be the GAYEST Congress in history!” Representative Ro Khanna wrote, “DEI is back!” A quick scroll through Bluesky will reveal the enthusiasm for prosecuting anyone with even a tenuous connection to Trump, condemning anyone who has ever voted Republican, and advancing woke nonsense (such as “trans rights”). Rejecting the status quo was not an admission of yearning for a return to 2020-ish culture — though it will be beneficial to Republicans if the DNC’s leadership and the left’s most committed activists do not realize as much.
Although the election results are frustrating, I have to remind myself that we’re playing a long game, and these unfortunate results could prove to be God’s blessing in disguise. My assessment and predictions could be totally wrong, of course, in part because I don’t understand the so-called median voter. The reality is that I eat, sleep, and breathe politics, and as a result of my obsession with politics, I have unpopular priorities; I would happily pay $12 for eggs in exchange for removing millions of people here illegally or by the support of our needless visas. Still, I’ve spent enough time with progressive activists to know that they will seize every opportunity to advance and enforce their preferences, and those preferences are far more extreme than the average person could ever imagine. There’s an ancient proverb, which I’ve literally just made up, that a snake always eats its own tail.