Today's Adversaries, Tomorrow's Allies
Political realignments ahead as cultural changes drive human behavior
In America, political change is constant. No one has any idea what the political map will look like a decade from now. There are inevitably political realignments ahead. The lesson for political activists is this: today’s adversaries may be tomorrow’s allies. Today’s allies may be tomorrow’s adversaries. Build bridges, don’t burn them. Don’t take people’s political positions too seriously. Culture shapes politics and drives human behavior more than politics determines culture.
I’m doing an analysis of where I think North Carolina is headed, which I will share tomorrow. Meanwhile, let’s look at other states and how their politics have changed.
Some reliably Democratic states, like California and New York, were once reliably Republican states. The conservative cultures of California were instrumental in launching the careers of Richard Nixon and Ronald Reagan. New York was the home of relatively progressive Republican governors Thomas Dewey and Nelson Rockefeller, both of whom ran for president. California and New York are now reliably Democratic, but that won’t always be the case. Some reliably Republican states, like South Carolina, Tennessee, Mississippi, and Alabama, were once part of the Democrats’ “solid South.” They are now reliably Republican states. But that could change.
If you were asked in 1870 or 1930 or 1960 what would be the definition of liberal and conservative, Democrat or Republican in the 2020s, and which states would fit which labels, you probably wouldn’t believe how the definitions and the politics of the states have changed.
In the 1950s or 1960s or even the 1980s, could you possibly predict that Orange County, CA would become liberal?? No, but here we are:
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