Leaders and pundits on both sides of the aisle have a habit of declaring premature victory over their political opponents. It is bizarre that this phenomenon persists, considering the fact that voters almost always reject the party in power only two short years after a presidential election.
Even President Donald Trump, who defeated the establishments of both parties in 2016 — and a candidate in former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, whose victory was viewed as a foregone conclusion — was bested in 2024 by the most “establishment” candidate in history, Joe Biden. Democrats bought into the notion that demographics are destiny after President Barack Obama was elected twice in overwhelming fashion, only to watch Hispanic Americans send Trump back to the White House, and likely put Florida out of the Left’s reach for a generation.
Beyond the obvious arrogance (James 4:6 says “God opposes the proud but shows favor to the humble”), erroneously declaring political victory can inflict a movement with crippling complacency.
Conservatives may be setting themselves up for failure by preemptively claiming victory in the culture wars. There has certainly been a pendulum swing away from wokeness in recent months and years. Elon Musk’s decision to buy Twitter, now X, dealt a massive blow to cancel culture. Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg expressed regret for aiding Democrats in their quest to silence Republicans on social media, and major corporations have rolled back profit-killing diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives en masse.
While these developments are worthy of celebration, the Right must take a “trust but verify” approach. Sure, Zuckerberg, Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos, and other tech billionaires have cozied up to the Trump administration, but with potentially game-changing artificial intelligence legislation looming in the coming years, Silicon Valley is likely to cozy up to anyone willing to give them a seat at the table. DEI programs eat into corporate profits, but if and when Democrats take power and change the incentive structures, corporations would likely be more than willing to reverse course to buy political favor.
Even with cancel culture seemingly on the decline, people are still losing their livelihoods for the “crime” of offending leftist sensibilities. This week, the Chicago Bulls cut shooting guard Jaden Ivey after he criticized the NBA’s Pride month celebrations. Conservatives celebrated the Left’s inability to cancel popular actress Sydney Sweeney after she pushed back against far-left orthodoxy, but this is far from a cultural victory. Hollywood as an institution, and the arts more generally, are still to the left of Chinese President Xi Jinping. The Right still lacks the ability to produce art that can rival the leftist institutions they decry.
The Washington Examiner’s Salena Zito had an excellent column this week on the trend of young Americans returning to Christian faith. Church attendance did spike sharply following the assassination of Turning Point USA co-founder and devout Christian Charlie Kirk. While this is encouraging, broader polling data suggest that Generation Z’s faith in God still lags behind other age groups.
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Christians and conservatives have a new opponent in the war over the minds and souls of young Americans. While the Left may have been dealt a string of defeats, small but growing swaths of the Right have become inundated with a third-worldist, “blame America first” ideology.
Certain postliberal leaders use faith as a shield for their defamatory, hate-filled conspiracism. I am not arguing that the Right should not celebrate victories, but it would be wise to take a “3 yards and a cloud of dust” approach to politics and culture. Our opponents, on both sides of the aisle, are playing the long game.
Brady Leonard (@bradyleonard) is a writer, musician, and host of The No Gimmicks Podcast.