2024: The Year of the Cool Kids
If you’re like me, you’ve probably been both amused and satisfied to watch the liberal media and political class melt down at the decisive victory by President-elect Donald Trump on November 5. While pundits have opined about the many reasons for Trump’s win, one thing should be clear for conservatives: we won this election because, for the first time in a long time, we won this culture.
Trump has understood something that few in politics want to admit: political manipulation can never match cultural sentiment. In his first election in 2016, Trump went after the forgotten man and promised to represent them in Washington and drain the swamp of those who turned their back on regular Americans. In 2024, Trump went a step further. He created an alliance of both practicality and passion. He maintained his connection with those Americans who feel left behind by the DC elite, and he added to their ranks by bringing in millions of votes from traditionally left-leaning minority groups disenfranchised by the Democratic party. Yet, he also clearly reached the average American who simply wanted to stop Washington’s march to madness.
While conservatives, like me, might argue that it has always been true, radical leftists have now officially become the “Karens” of American culture. Conservatives have long been regarded by media as the outcasts of our society, holding on to outdated ideas and obsolete methods of living. In this moment, the tables have turned. In fact, despite all the celebrity endorsements of the Harris campaign, from Julia Roberts to Taylor Swift, the American voter appeared to directly reject their progressive influence on our politics.
The pandemic certainly opened many eyes to the reality of the modern liberal agenda. We watched progressives at all levels of government push “science” down the throats of Americans without any regard to the evidence or the questioning required by the basic scientific method that we all learned in grade school. But more importantly, the average American saw leftism in action: the person wearing a mask while driving alone in a car, the union shutting down their kid’s school, and the city council shutting down their local businesses. Americans who typically avoid politics could not hide from it any longer. Government intervention came knocking at their door, and it wasn’t friendly.
Many Americans saw clearly, for the very first time, the symptoms of a political movement based on fear, control, and power. And while it was obvious to objective observers that the democratic machine was losing its hold on many of their traditional voting base in the days leading up to the election, the Left couldn’t help itself. Vice President Harris and her political allies doubled down on focusing their ire on the messenger – Donald Trump – rather than the merit of his message. It turns out that the American people can take a few mean social media posts if it means an economy that is not in the tank, a border that is secure, and a globe not entangled in World War III.
While Trump has never been regarded by politicos as a disciplined candidate, at least in a traditional sense, his laser-focus on the issues that mattered to the average American voter this election cycle was nothing short of extraordinary. And in contrast, the Left’s disconnect with normal Americans was equally as astonishing.
While moms across America wanted to pay less at the pump so they could simply get their kids to soccer practice without taking a second mortgage, the modern leftist seemed far more concerned with the impact of cow flatulence on greenhouse gas emissions. While Black and Hispanic families had been disproportionately impacted by inflation under the Biden/Harris administration, the modern leftist seemed far more concerned with promoting woke ideology in public institutions. While poll after poll indicated that the crisis at our Southern Border caused by the current administration was a top issue for average voters, the modern leftist seemed far more concerned with ensuring that abortion is accessible at all times, no matter the age of the baby.
The Left was both too extreme and too inept this election cycle to win. And conservatives finally had a candidate, in Donald Trump, who understood the importance of winning and speaking to the culture of our day.
While time will allow much more analysis in the days ahead, I believe there are a couple initial lessons that we should take away as conservatives.
First, we should never forget that who we are, as conservatives, matters just as much as what we believe. Trump didn’t just win because his policies were the best, he undoubtedly won, at least in part, because he could walk into a UFC match and cause a standing ovation from both the spectators and the participants. If the world views us as people who they admire and want to emulate, then our policies will be far more persuasive.
Americans wrongfully disregard the power of likability. Research shows that people generally underestimate how difficult it is for people to say “no” to someone that they like. Conservatives are no different – we tend to focus on the facts and forget that it doesn’t hurt to be liked, as long as we don’t betray our principles in the process. While the media scoffs at President Trump when he brags about his crowd sizes, he isn’t actually bragging about some irrelevant head count. He is bragging that thousands like him so much that they would travel halfway across the country just to attend his rally. President Trump has been politically successful in no small part because he understands how to connect with real people.
In fact, it is ironic that many in the media and political class staunchly opposed Trump simply because they disliked him, and others voted for him despite their distaste for him. Yet, he likely won because at least some percentage of the public just liked him more than his opponent.
Second, we may never have another Donald Trump. We should take advantage of this opportunity and get policy victories right now. The American people voted for change, and they will demand reform. But even in this critical moment, we should begin the hard work of building a culture that will embrace our policies long after our personalities in leadership have changed. Change that doesn’t last isn’t really change at all – it’s just one swing of the revolving door in Washington’s status quo.