Democrats and Republicans have adapted. They shifted their views, beliefs and platforms based on what resonates within American culture.

Democrats were once the vehement pro-slavery party. They now carry over 85 percent of the African-American vote. They were the party that nominated the senator who became the first African-American president.

The Republican party was once the party of archaic anti-regulation economic policies and nineteenth century attitude towards women and minorities.

They have recently opposed the Lily Ledbetter Act, which would guarantee equal pay for equal work for both men and women.

Hold on, that almost sounds like they are still an archaic party holding a nineteenth-century attitude towards women. The Republican Party, as it stands today, is on its way out.

The seismic shifts towards ultra-conservatism that the political right has continually used to try and drum up support haven’t worked.

In the most recent election, Mitt Romney won just one demographic: white males, and he won it resoundingly.

According to analysis by The Daily Mail, if only white males had voted, Romney would have won the election 501 to 37 in the electoral college.

There may have been a time where that would be good enough in America, but that time is over.

When your party continually fails to carry more than 15 percent of any large demographic, like the Grand Old Party (GOP) has with the African-American vote (this trend pre-dates Obama, so please do not even try and make this a racial thing,) they will struggle to win elections.

While the Democrats maintained control over the White House and Senate, some may say that the Republicans maintaining control of the House of Representatives is a sign that we, as a nation, are still ready to hold on the GOP platform; however, the Democrats actually won the combined popular vote between the House races.

There will eventually come a point where the “Old White Male” demographic won’t be able to carry these races anymore.

This election year, we learned that a presidential candidate can explicitly be in favor of marriage equality and win. We learned that our nation is trending toward the left, or as some of us say, “trending toward the future.”

It’s unfortunate that not everyone can keep up.