Hillary Clinton would continue this fundamentally conservative outlook. She’s not suggested a single policy change that, if implemented, would immediately convulse America’s overseas relationships or social fabric. On election eve, the fact of her gender will spark excitement. Other than that, in overseas capitals, and atop America’s core institutions, observers would greet her election with a sigh of relief and a yawn.

How did Democrats become the more conservative party? Partly, it’s incumbency. The party in power always has a vested interest in arguing that the status quo is pretty good, and requires only modest tinkering. The party out of power always has a vested interest in arguing that the status quo is pretty bad and requires wholesale change. But that’s only a partial explanation. Even compared to past de facto incumbents, Clinton is sanguine. She’s running a more upbeat campaign than Al Gore did in 2000 even though the country is less peaceful and prosperous than it was back then. For his part, Trump is more apocalyptic than previous GOP insurgents. In 2000, George W. Bush titled his campaign book A Charge to Keep. In 2012, Mitt Romney titled his No Apology. Trump’s is titled Crippled America. In his convention speech, altogether, Trump used the words “crisis,” “chaos,” “death,” “destruction,” and “violence” 19 times. In his 2012 convention speech, Romney didn’t use any of those words even once.

There’s something deeper going on. Democrats have become the more conservative party because their voters are more optimistic about America’s long-term trajectory. They are more likely to believe that America is headed in the right direction and thus doesn’t require radical upheaval. A new Pew Research Center poll finds that 81 percent of Trump supporters say life in America is worse “for people like you” than it was 50 years ago. Only 19 percent of Clinton supporters agree. More than two-thirds of Trump supporters say the next generation will be worse off. Among Clinton supporters, it’s less than one-third.

African Americans and Latinos are particularly optimistic. The very demographic and cultural trends that make Republicans pessimistic about America’s long-term course—immigration, female empowerment, LGBT rights, growing secularism—make Democrats optimistic. Democrats feel less of a need to turn American politics upside down because they represent, in Ron Brownstein’s phrase, the “coalition of the ascendant.”

What’s odd about this is that while Democrats are more optimistic than Republicans, they’re also poorer. As Nate Silver has noted, the average Trump primary voter boasted a household income $11,000 higher than the average Clinton and Bernie Sanders voter. In states with large non-white populations, the gap was even greater. In Florida, the income gap between Trump and Clinton voters was $19,000. In South Carolina, it was $33,000.