This is an open letter to my Democratic friends.
Don’t get cocky.
You just won an election that you ought well to have won. Allan Lichtman called it over a year ago, using a very minimalistic (but surprisingly predictive) model. The demographics have been steadily and inexorably moving your way, and to make things even easier, the other side made a point of regularly insulting women and trying to commoditize their wombs. Not to mention the fact that your opponents put on an advanced seminar straight out of clown college, called it a major party primary, and for an encore went on to nominate the guy that their most enthusiastic supporters trusted the least and hated the most. I could go on, but you get the idea.
Last night, I celebrated about as hard as anyone can with children underfoot, but now it’s time for a bit of a buzzkill. See that giant red stripe running across the electoral map, from Atlanta to Boise? That’s the part of America where your influence is minimal and the theocratic wing of the GOP are hard at work rolling back civil rights and obstructing social justice. They hope to give even more tax cuts to those who need it the least, divert public funds to faith-based groups, and enforce Biblical sexual morality wherever and however they can get away with it.
You can help stop them.
If you live in the red states, you have to keep up the pressure on your own representatives. Let them know your honest opinion whenever they kowtow to theocracy and try to base 21st century legislation on the canons of prescientific goatherds. Some of them will really hear you out, and a few of them are actually moderates just looking for a good reason to push back against the recent takeover of their party. My wife and I have both had good experiences visiting with various legislators in person. It’s not half as hard as you think.
If you live in the blue states, you have my condolences. It must be so boring to live that far away from the front lines of the culture wars. You are welcome, of course, to send donations to the ACLU or whomever you believe is doing an effective job of defending civil rights on the ground. Think of it as buying culture war bonds.
Wherever you live, and whatever you believe, please try to reach out and really listen to your friends on the other side, in the hopes that they will do the same. It’s not easy, but it is the only way to overcome the ongoing ideological balkanization of our national political discourse. If you haven’t already listened to it, I’d recommend listening to This American Life #478 for some practical tips on how to go about this.
It’s time to get back to work.
