No, not all Republicans. But a noisy faction -- mostly the MAGAs so ensnared by Mr. Trump -- are perpetually aggrieved about something. Or a lot of things.
• Opposition to abortion remains limited: solid majorities say abortion should be legal in all or most circumstances and that women should be allowed to have abortions "for any reason." Bans on abortion have never been popular and are even less so now. They poll in the mid-teens following the Dobbs decision.
• Only about a third of the country still wants to ban gay marriage.
• Immigration remains polarized, but there's little support for abolishing policies like DACA. Even a majority of Republicans oppose getting rid of it.
• Less than a third of Americans want to keep marijuana illegal.
• Virtually no one opposes sex education in schools, and less than a third support the conservative insistence that sex ed classes should exclusively teach the benefits of abstaining from sexual activity.
• At the time they were taking place, only a third of Americans opposed the George Floyd protests. To this day, only a minority think the police treat white and Black people equally.
• Transgender issues are still new and fraught, but a core belief in protecting trans people from discrimination in jobs, housing, and general public acceptance generates only tiny opposition.
• Only a third of the country believes that churches should be involved in politics. Less than a quarter think churches should endorse candidates. Only small minorities think the government should favor Christianity. And only about a quarter think the religious freedom of Christians is threatened.
• Only about 15% of Americans think gun laws should be loosened. About a third oppose background checks, high-capacity magazines, and bans on assault weapons. That said, this is one of the very few issues where conservative views, broadly speaking, retain fairly high support.
... Generally speaking, though, conservatives have simply lost the country on cultural issues. ...
Losing this thoroughly hurts.
Obviously, where they have the numbers to impose their views -- think Monica Potts' Arkansas -- they will try. This will be hard on their children who perforce are growing up into a different world.
The pain is real. But real pain doesn't justify imposing your failed edicts on the rest of us. We need to practice majority rule with some respect and some kindness.
Somewhat unexpectedly, the old man in the White House seems to embody appropriate, though sometimes frustrating, virtues for this moment.
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