Here's an inescapable reality according to a new study from The Center for American Progress "By the 2016 election the United States will have ceased to be a white Christian nation. Looking even farther down the road, white Christians will be only around 35 percent of the population by 2040." The full demographic analysis in the report is facinating. Our country will be a very different-- and likely much more progressive --place in another decade.

Another major shift will be the rising importance of Millennials in the mix; they will account for 35-40% of all voters by 2020 and currently favor Democrats by a 2 to 1 margin.

To have any hope of maintaining relevance, the authors argue that the GOP has a few options:

• Move to the center on social issues.
  
• Pay attention to whites with some college education and to young white working-class voters in general.
  
• Another demographic target should be white college graduates, especially those with a four-year degree only.
• In the long run the GOP has to have serious solutions of its own that go beyond cutting taxes. These solutions should use government to address problems but in ways that reflect conservative values and principles.

Read the full report for many more fascinating details. Perhaps there's hope for the future after all.

-Dr. DRL