In a posting on Vox last week, Matthew Yglesias finds that white liberals have moved decidedly to the left on social issues in the last several years. He cleverly refers to this as “The Great Awokening.” The questions for today are:
- Why did this happen?
- What does it mean for 2020?
As to the first question, it was undoubtedly a response to the GOP’s appalling reaction to the election of the incredibly benign Barack Obama, who was portrayed by Fox News as a raging black racist in spite of his ongoing and tireless efforts to overcome the divisions in our society. Trump, of course, made this a thousand times worse. As to the second, a poll in yesterday’s NYT confirmed what I have said many times, and what should be inherently obvious: young PC Democratic activists do not represent the majority of the party’s voters.
For those of us who have resisted The Great Awokening, the message is encouraging and clear–yes, it is possible that the Democrats may decide to rerun the 1972 election in the hallowed names of socialism and PC, but it is by no means inevitable.