Culture wars finally over?

Sonia Sotomayor and the End of the Culture WarsIs this just a temporary breathing spell in the culture wars due to the sudden spike in concern about other issues, first Iraq, then the economy, or is a fundamental shift in our politics taking place? I believe the latter is the case since, as this report establishes, ongoing demographic shifts have seriously eroded the mass base for culture wars politics and will continue to erode this base in the future. That means that the advantage conservatives can gain from culture wars politics will steadily diminish and, consequently, so will conservatives' incentive to engage in such politics.

In other words, there are fewer folks these days obsessing about gay marriage and abortion and feeling threatened by the legacies of 1960s. Rick Perlstein has a similar take on this, but from a different angle. He notes that conservative elites, gazing upon the unwashed anti-intellectuals who were at the center of the Republican campaign last fall--Sarah Palin and Joe the Plumber--feel, well, embarrassed. And they're sick of these folks and their followers, perhaps realizing that this group is, as Teixeira contends, a declining population slice.Comment:  Yes, the trends look good. Minorities and the younger generations are becoming an increasing part of the US population. These people are less concerned about protecting centuries of white privilege and more concerned about changing and improving the country. Hence they'll vote for candidates who support gay marriage, climate controls, and universal healthcare. Because these are rational courses of action and opposing them is irrational.

For more on the subject, see Palin's "Real America" vs. America and Multicultural Perspective for Judges.

Below:  In the 2008 election between two cultural warriors, the future defeated the past.