Craft store Hobby Lobby’s entrance into Tribeca, a neighborhood in Lower Manhattan, challenges Democratic political posturing after its presidential election loss. As always, constituents represent the reality of the party’s trajectory.
For Democratic voters in New York County, New York — the deepest-blue segment of the state — President Donald Trump’s second term means little more than resistance. So too for representatives across the state, as Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) and Gov. Kathy Hochul (D-NY) lead in those efforts. But the Democratic Party is in somewhat of an identity crisis, especially as its messaging steers in the wrong direction. Its response to Trump’s sweeping victory has few negotiating ploys left, the most prominent of which is an appeal to down-to-earth conservative modes of friendliness and charity. The opening of a Hobby Lobby is a hypothetical, though soon-to-be reality, that disproves how incompatible this pivot is with Democratic fundamentals.
It is not only because charity, and specifically Christian charity, is the key to the human condition that it is the Democratic Party’s best bet at regaining public confidence. The overwhelming majority of people — many of whom influence the strong correlation of political ideology with religiosity — declared their interest in it when they voted Republican against the standards of openness and amorality that previously guided policy.
As such, issues including immigration, family policy, and religious liberty now take on a more traditional tendency regardless of party. After Vice President JD Vance invoked the theological concept “ordo amoris,” opposing sides erupted in competition to own the term’s authentic meaning. And now, the Left is attempting to lean into an agenda of Abundance, per journalist Ezra Klein’s titular new book, “that favors human flourishing over hyper-regulation.”
The feasibility of it all proves low when faced with the actual populations of states such as New York. Hobby Lobby’s Manhattan storefront leaves “some residents feeling affronted,” according to New York Times reporting. The main complaint is: “I moved to New York to get away from things like that.”
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In particular, “that” is explicit Evangelical Christianity, such as animates Chick-Fil-A’s business model. Neighborhood-sharing, alone, is enough to urge indignation from progressives. Still, incidents that signal the region’s irreligiosity bring out a similar defensiveness. Since country singer Morgan Wallen made an abrupt exit off the set of Saturday Night Live and flew back “to God’s country,” many have speculated that he did so out of a distaste for his New York company. Others offer the idea that it was mere absent-mindedness. But the implication is enough: SNL colleagues and fans of liberal persuasion take for certain what Wallen’s actions might, most likely did, mean.
The fact of the matter, however, is that the deep blue enjoys political safe havens. Surely, conservatives flock to red states — but the burden of proof, in terms of sensibility, lies on the Left. Boycotting Hobby Lobby will communicate the opposite message and will have little effect on its business. Unlike coherent, recognizable right-wing boycotts, the wide range of radical causes along the Democratic spectrum makes progressive ones seldom effective. As for the influence Hobby Lobby will likely have on the Tribeca atmosphere: Also hardly a dent, because of existing, and formidable, resistance.