President Obama’s reelection followed by the unapologetic case for liberalism in his second inaugural address has triggered a lot of talk about a “long-term electoral realignment” in which the country moves decidedly left. There’s a plausible argument to be made that this could happen, especially when one takes into account the nation’s shifting demographics and the general haplessness of Republicans. But a new Pew survey of what Americans consider the nation’s top priorities raises the possibility that Obama is seriously misjudging the political moment.

During Obama’s inauguration speech, he effectively ignored the issue of deficit reduction and didn’t have much to say about reviving economic growth. He did, however, discuss spending more on infrastructure and addressing global warming. Though he made only a passing allusion to gun control in his actual inaugural, he made a high profile speech this month to unveil a proposal addressing the issue.