[Mises] Even if Trump somehow manages to win in November, the Left (i.e., "progressives" and social democrats) can rest easy knowing that the Left's influence over the country's institutions and ideological views have only increased in recent years.Naturally, the Left has portrayed itself as somehow victimized, declaring itself to be "the resistance" and making numerous predictions of doom in which the opponents of the Left would gain untrammeled control over the population. In this view, the nation is always just a few days away from enduring a mixture of social Darwinism and theocracy as imposed by libertarians and conservatives, respectively.
After four years with the Trump administration in power, of course, the nation isn't even heading in this direction. Government control over healthcare isn't going away. Most states have only expanded Medicaid. Gun control laws have become more stringent, not less. Government spending has risen to unprecedented levels, and almost no political candidate at the federal level would seriously argue in favor of any substantial cuts. Anti-Christian rhetoric has become more fashionable than ever, so that now any Christian who actually practices his or her religion—i.e., Amy Coney Barrett—is portrayed in the media as a religious zealot. Even minor deviations from the demanded orthodoxy—such as actor Chris Pratt’s lack of enthusiasm for Joe Biden—earns hate campaigns from the guardians of acceptable public opinion.