In one word, it’s conservatism.

Conservatism will never die. It’s a necessary basic human instinct to protect what’s known and safe. Conservatism allows us to recognize when driving too fast on the interstate may lead to a terrible accident and it protects us when we realize that excessive drinking and drug abuse may lead to an early death. But conservatism when it’s not tempered with progress becomes a unwieldy weight that drags people into set ways and a stubbornness to recognize when real changes are necessary. Without progress, and therefore progressives, slavery would still be the way of the land, women would still be fighting to vote, a National Parks system wouldn’t exist and Rosa Parks would still be sitting in the back of the bus. This is not to mention the countless other examples of social and economic advances that were driven by progressives.

While progressives are constantly moving the ball forward and pushing to make for a fairer healthcare system, for gay rights, for an economy based on clean, renewable energy, for an educational system that doesn’t effectively bankrupt it’s citizens, we will constantly be fighting conservative thinking that fights that change. Currently the GOP is fighting to reconcile a natural shift towards a more progressive agenda. The shift is inevitable and unstoppable and conservatism must adjust or face becoming obsolete. Since becoming obsolete isn’t an option, we can expect a more moderate, dare I say, more progressive agenda from conservatives.

What progressives should take solace in is the fact that eventually we always win. Since our agendas are based in equality and fairness and not exclusion and class warfare, we will always be on the winning side of any argument. It may take many years, we may take two steps forward and one step back, we may lose battles along the way, but it is always important to remember one thing…

eventually we ALWAYS get what we want.