To make one more point on Ross Douthat's article projecting a swing towards liberalism in this country, political science professor James Stimson has been using aggregate poll data to track public opinion towards policy over the last few decades. Here's what the trend looks like:
Liberalism, as measured through public attitudes, is higher than at any point since the 60s. Now, foreign affairs often take precedence over domestic populism, our political system is much more responsive to the attitudes of elites than the general sentiments of the electorate, our Madisonian structure makes large-scale change very hard, and so on. But there's serious movement here, and it will have an impact.
