Martin: The laziness of modern American liberalism

Columnist David Martin
Columnist David Martin
photo Columnist David Martin

After the 2008 presidential election, and especially after 2012, it was all the rage for pundits to pen obituaries for conservatism and the Republican Party. So popular was the practice, the GOP issued its own autopsy report following Mitt Romney's loss to Barack Obama.

Taking cues from pre-election polling data, it's probably safe to assume that hundreds - if not thousands - of updated post-mortems had been saved as drafts on computers across the country, ready to fire off last Wednesday morning.

Then the returns started coming in.

As it became more and more evident that Donald Trump would defeat Hillary Clinton, my social media feeds began filling up with posts from my left-of-center friends frantically wondering "how in the world is this happening?" Actually, for that quote to be more realistic, it would need three or four exclamation points and a curse word or two.

Since Nov. 8, a library's worth of articles attempting to address that question have appeared online. No doubt, you've read a few yourself.

Though no full audit of these posts has been conducted, it's apparent that a majority of them pin much of Trump's win on one of two factors: Hillary Clinton's unpopularity (a favorite theme on the right) and the supposed widespread racism and sexism of Trump supporters (a popular justification on the left).

Of the two, I put much more stock in the former explanation but also believe one crucial element is missing from most treatments: the laziness of modern American liberalism, at least in its political form.

Think back to those obituaries that were so trendy after the 2008 and 2012 elections. Why did their authors feel so confident that the end was near for the GOP? Demographics. The almost unquestioned assumption was that as the nation becomes more racially diverse, demography would eventually drive the Republican Party into extinction.

The internet is loaded with article titles such as "Why demographic shifts spell doom for the GOP," "The hidden demographic shifts that are sinking the Republican Party," and "I've seen America's future - and it's not Republican."

Yes, those are all real headlines.

There is also this quote made popular during the Obama years: "The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice." Our current president likes to trot that line out often as a way remind his countrymen that today's trials and tribulations are only temporary, that we're marching our way to an unavoidable better future.

To Democrats, a party heavily populated by folks concerned with social justice (a pleasant yet vague term), it became easy to assume the political destination of that moral arc would be the extinction of the GOP.

"It's inevitable," was the popular thought. "Just sit back and watch."

And Democrats did just that this year, the clearest evidence being a 7 million(ish) vote dropoff between Barack Obama's 2008 victory over John McCain and Hillary Clinton's 2016 loss to Donald Trump.

Conversely, the Republican Party, according to a recent analysis by Katie Pavlich on Townhall.com, tripled its ground game efforts since Mitt Romney's 2012 loss to Obama. Among other things, that meant 24 million targeted door knocks and 26 million phone calls. RNC Chairman Reince Priebus, who directed those efforts, showed America there is a big difference between watching and winning.

Now this isn't to suggest that demographic changes won't cause problems for the GOP down the road. Hillary Clinton's lead (and presumed win) in the popular vote hints at that very real possibility. But between here and there, it's become quite clear that the side with the stronger work ethic will win.

Advantage Republicans.

Contact David Allen Martin at davidallenmartin423@gmail.com and follow him on Twitter @DMart423.

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