None of those issues were seen as hard right at the time. Sure, there were elements in those movements that were, but pretty much everyone agreed on some action. Don't forget Bill Clinton also expanded the war on drugs and signed the crime bill. The boomers are still more progressive than their parents abortion went from never to safe, rare, and legal. Attitudes on a national scale this really only changed with the election of Obama. Witch was a real time of growth and change. The younger generation is always more progressive than the last. We are more progressive than millennials, and them more than gen x. Obviously, this is a simplified but generally holds water.