The appropriately-named FactChequer blasts me for failing to mention the foundations and not-for-profits when talking about the left’s power yesterday.

I think s/he’s right. I overlooked that source of power. Though the larger point remains. Where does the left have power? Not much, politically. Russ Feingold is a (breathtaking) outlier. He’s marginalized.

The left’s real influence tends to be cultural. On issues like affirmative action, abortion rights, women’s rights, and gay rights, we have largely won or are in the process of winning. Hey, I’m an optimist. But thanks to blue-state cultural domination, the media, the movies, etc., progressives have led the country on these cultural matters. Partly because there isn’t much of a conflicting corporate program. But when it comes to other more directly political issues, from tax cuts to global warming to foreign policy, we are hapless.