Liberals in Retreat

◼ Three elections across the globe deliver an unpleasant shock to liberal ideologues. - John Fund/National Review Online

It’s worth examining those results in such widely separated places as Australia, Norway, and the Rocky Mountains of Colorado....

Michael Barone, the co-author of The Almanac of American Politics and an analyst of international elections, tells me that many people driven by ideology often feel elections should revolve around their concerns and reflect their priorities. “That can happen on the left or on the right,” he says. “But liberals are especially prone to not recognizing the public does care if their policies actually work in practice and are in sync with their everyday concerns.”

In all three elections held in the last week — from Australia to Norway to Colorado — liberals forgot that their priorities aren’t often those of the average voter. In each case, they were punished for it.