Thomas B. Edsall, who writes for The New Republic, is one of the most intellectually honest liberals I have read or heard. In a recent article, “Building Red America: The New Conservative Coalition and the Drive for Permanent Power”, he credits the rise of the Republican majority to their superior resources of anger, ruthlessness, and cynicism fueled by the recent transformation of social forces. I was particularly struck by this comment about the very high incidence (about one-third) of out-of-wedlock births: “To social conservatives, these developments have signaled an irretrievable and tragic loss.
Their reaction has fueled, on the right, a powerful traditionalist movement and a groundswell of support for the Republican Party. To modernists, these developments constitute, at worst, the unfortunate costs of progress, and, at best—very much the view of the Democratic Party—they constitute a triumph over unconscionable obstacles to the liberation and self-realization of much of the human race.” Intellectual honesty, indeed.
