* Washington Letter: Shifting The Overton Window – David Stringer, Publisher

Few readers will recognize the name Joe Overton. More will recognize the term ‘Overton Window’,  which bears his name. Joseph Paul Overton (1960-2003) was a political scientist and chief policy wonk at Michigan’s  Mackinac Center for Public Policy,  a free market think tank best known for its pioneering work on school choice and the privatization of government services. (1)

In the early 1990’s, ideas that are commonplace today from school choice and government deregulation, to ending Affirmative Action were still incubating in conservative think tanks. Today, mainstream  conservative figures  champion them. Before these ideas could be publicly advanced, think tankers like Joe Overton were working hard to lay the groundwork.

While developing policy reforms in education, Overton recognized the need to distinguish the range of  ideas that were politically acceptable and could be acted on from those that were still on the cutting edge and had not yet gained wide public acceptance.  Successful careers in politics are built on playing it safe. Overton understood that to get elected, and re-elected, politicians must operate within a narrow range of ideas that are acceptable to voters. New ideas and big reforms require  preparation and time to permeate the social firmament. Overton believed that was the job of policy analysts like himself and think tanks like the Mackinac Center.(2)

As a political science concept, the Overton Window is defined by what is politically possible at any given moment. (3)  But this ‘window’ is not static. The politically possible is constantly shifting as social reality changes and new ideas gain currency. Joe Overton didn’t coin the term ‘Overton Window’. That came later, after his early death at 43, as his ideas gained followers in academic circles and through popularizers  like Joe Rogan and Tucker Carlson. Today figures like Elon Musk tweet about the ‘Overton Window’ as if everyone gets the reference.(4)

The new Trump Administration can be understood as the most massive shift in the Overton Window in our lifetime. Ideas like dismantling the administrative state, leveraging tariffs to win trade concessions, ending DEI, Canada as the 51^st State, offering asylum to persecuted whites in South Africa and reorienting American foreign policy away from Europe, were not in play even a few months ago. Ideas that have been on the fringe of public discourse have suddenly been thrust to the forefront.

The return of Donald Trump to national leadership portends an inflection point in American society as transformative as the New Deal  and the social revolution of the 1960’s. Trump is not an intellectual or  thought leader in the traditional sense. But his street smarts and salesmanship are unrivaled. In his four year ordeal of exile he faced ridicule, financial ruin and imprisonment at the hands of  the Deep State. He has returned to power with a deep personal understanding of  who his enemies are and what is at stake for our country. And he has surrounded himself with top notch people who understand what must be done.

Much of what Trump has proposed requires a paradigm shift in political discourse. Shifting the Overton Window is an essential  first step in changing the direction of public policy. It will take time for many of his ideas to be fully vetted and win over enough support to be put in place. Three major initiatives  have far reaching implications for the future.

Trump’s decision to end DEI and Affirmative Action portends a reset in American race relations.  Since the Civil Rights Revolution of the 1960’s, public policy has been geared toward redressing alleged racial injustices to blacks and other minority groups. Trump is the first President in our lifetime to stand up for whites. Crime, urban decay, anti-white discrimination and calls for reparations have eroded public support for the so-called ‘racial justice’ agenda. Trump’s offer of asylum for persecuted South African whites has brought the issue of white victimhood  within the Overton Window. An entirely new paradigm on race relations is taking hold.

Ending the Russian-Ukraine war will bring a reset in US relations with Russia and Western Europe. NATO was established after WWII to contain Soviet expansion in Europe. But with the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991,  the Cold War ended. Today, none of the former Soviet Republics have communist systems. The countries that comprise NATO have a population of 450 million people—over three  times the population of Russia.  And a combined economy bigger than the United States. Trump has asked why  American taxpayers continue to shoulder 70% of the cost of defending Europe? (5)

Russia may not be a fully democratic country in the same sense as our NATO allies, but neither are they an economic or military threat to the United States or Europe. They haven’t been exporting communism for thirty years. Russians are a white, Christian people  with a thousand year history. They are part of the West.

According to UN census estimates, in 1900, whites were roughly 20 percent of the global population. (6) Today whites are 10 percent of the population of a world that is 90 percent non-white. (7)  Why are we opposed to the Russian people with whom we share race, religion and culture?  Given the hostility of the third world toward the West,  isn’t it inevitable that we end up on the same side?

Photo: The Panama Canal

The third area I want to discuss is Trump’s proposal for national expansion. The annexation of Greenland, Canada as a 51^st state,   and reclaiming the Panama Canal have all been dismissed by the media as fanciful ideas. But they all have undeniable benefits not only to the United States but to the polities themselves. Does anyone doubt that the Panama Canal would be more secure and Panamanians themselves better off under a return to American administration?

Greenland has historical and legal ties to Denmark. But what exactly are those claims based on?  Aren’t they a remnant of colonialism? And what are we to make of the January poll  that showed Greenland voters support joining the United States by 57%? (8) By contemplating the annexation of Greenland and referring to Canada as the 51^st state, Trump is putting into play the whole concept of national and state borders.

Canada is already home to active succession movements in Quebec and British Columbia.(9)  And so is the United States, e.g.,  Cascadia, Greater Idaho, Alaska, and Texas. Trump has opened up the possibility that borders can be redrawn to reflect political realities. Are we to believe the borders of the current 50 US States are eternal and immutable?  What about the counties in southern Illinois that have voted to succeed from Illinois and join Missouri? And the vote of the Missouri legislature to accept them? (10)   For how long can these claims be ignored?

Trump has put in play the idea that political boundaries should reflect political reality. In the case of Greenland, Canada and the Panama Canal we are talking about economic and security needs. In the case of state and local boundaries within the United States, stable political boundaries should reflect population demographics and culture.  Once again, Trump’s ideas are shifting the Overton Window and redefining what is politically possible.

Notes:

(1) Mackinac Center for Public Policy, www.Mackinac.org

(2) Foundation for Economic Freedom,  Lawrence B. Reed,  November 7, 2024

(3) Wikipedia. Overton Window

(4) Yahoo!finance, “Looking Thru The Overton Window To Elon Musk’s Heart”

(5) VisualCapitalist, “Breaking Down $1.3T In NATO Defense Spending”

(6) Statista.com World Population By Continent

(7) “The percentage of the world’s population that is classified as “White” varies depending on the definition used and the data source. Generally, estimates suggest that people of European descent make up around 10-15% of the global population…” Copilot, an AI assistant by Microsoft

(8).GBnews.com,  Jack Walters,  January 14, 2025

(9) Wikipedia. Successionist Movements In Canada,

(10) Redstatesecession.org, –  33 Counties Have  Now Voted To Split Illinois