The president's mood has been buoyed by recent polling and his visits to battleground states, as Trump sits in a Manhattan courtroom for his criminal trial.
Don’t get me wrong, I agree with you that things are in a dire state, and this might genuinely be the most important election in history. But I don’t see it ever getting better - as it stands right now, the Republican party will only continue getting crazier and more extreme, until there are no more elections. The system is fundamentally broken, and there needs to be some fundamental fix to off this wild ride.
Ranked Choice Voting with more political parties could be one such fix. It would allow for better representation on both sides (actual leftists on the left, and people on the right who aren’t quite as despicable as is currently the case).
But I don’t see it ever getting better - as it stands right now, the Republican party will only continue getting crazier and more extreme, until there are no more elections.
Them continually getting stomped in elections until they don’t hold any meaningful power anymore would make them eventually have to moderate. I don’t know that that’s what will happen, as we seem to be stuck in the American cycle of dismay with the ruling party turning into support for the out-of-power party no matter how terrible the out-of-power party is.
But what I think it would look like is like what happened to Democrats trying to grab the Presidency during the Reagan era. They got stomped enough times in a row nationally that they basically had to change their party platform to appeal to Reagan voters.
But what’s the likelihood of that happening? The Republican voter base lives in an alternative world, with alternative news and alternative media - and they are working hard on perpetuating that through indoctrination, both in the education system and through religion.
There have been so many points over the last couple of years where no rational person could keep supporting them, yet their base has grown or stayed the same. Their last president literally attempted a coup, yet there’s a good chance he’ll be re-elected. And even if he’s not, and he dies in the next couple of years - his fascist movement will not end with him.
I’m not sure. I wouldn’t bet on it either and don’t think it’s very likely to happen. They may have found a bridge too far for even their voters with the abortion ban stuff though. Theirs is an exceedingly unpopular opinion, and the more action they take to make abortion completely illegal without even exemptions for shit like rape and incest, the more I think they’ll find themselves unelectable.
And even if he’s not, and he dies in the next couple of years - his fascist movement will not end with him.
I agree with the rest of what you’re saying, however, on this point I have a difference of opinion.
I don’t think fascism is an easily organized type of government. In my view, it’s essentially a cult of personality in politics and a single autocrat is essential to its continued function. It’s a type of retro-fitted monarchy where you have “dear leader” installed at the top and he cannot be removed except through death or exile.
One of the major problems with monarchies, autocracies, and even the mob (and sometimes business) is succession plans. These forms of organization can be stable for a while, but they tend to fall apart entirely or fizzle out at least somewhat once the central figure goes into the ground.
The Republican Party largely would’ve preferred to move on from Donald Trump probably as soon as he lost in 2020, but the populist dynamics are not allowing it to happen. “His base” is still his. Your Rons Desantis and your Nikkis Haley are no match for his cult of personality.
If he were to die, the people who voted for him that outlived him would still be alive, but I think they’d have a large amount of difficulty finding another leader to follow in exactly the same way. They’d likely split in their support for other leaders and their “movement” would be greatly damaged as a result.
Don’t get me wrong, I agree with you that things are in a dire state, and this might genuinely be the most important election in history. But I don’t see it ever getting better - as it stands right now, the Republican party will only continue getting crazier and more extreme, until there are no more elections. The system is fundamentally broken, and there needs to be some fundamental fix to off this wild ride.
Ranked Choice Voting with more political parties could be one such fix. It would allow for better representation on both sides (actual leftists on the left, and people on the right who aren’t quite as despicable as is currently the case).
Them continually getting stomped in elections until they don’t hold any meaningful power anymore would make them eventually have to moderate. I don’t know that that’s what will happen, as we seem to be stuck in the American cycle of dismay with the ruling party turning into support for the out-of-power party no matter how terrible the out-of-power party is.
But what I think it would look like is like what happened to Democrats trying to grab the Presidency during the Reagan era. They got stomped enough times in a row nationally that they basically had to change their party platform to appeal to Reagan voters.
But what’s the likelihood of that happening? The Republican voter base lives in an alternative world, with alternative news and alternative media - and they are working hard on perpetuating that through indoctrination, both in the education system and through religion.
There have been so many points over the last couple of years where no rational person could keep supporting them, yet their base has grown or stayed the same. Their last president literally attempted a coup, yet there’s a good chance he’ll be re-elected. And even if he’s not, and he dies in the next couple of years - his fascist movement will not end with him.
I’m not sure. I wouldn’t bet on it either and don’t think it’s very likely to happen. They may have found a bridge too far for even their voters with the abortion ban stuff though. Theirs is an exceedingly unpopular opinion, and the more action they take to make abortion completely illegal without even exemptions for shit like rape and incest, the more I think they’ll find themselves unelectable.
I agree with the rest of what you’re saying, however, on this point I have a difference of opinion.
I don’t think fascism is an easily organized type of government. In my view, it’s essentially a cult of personality in politics and a single autocrat is essential to its continued function. It’s a type of retro-fitted monarchy where you have “dear leader” installed at the top and he cannot be removed except through death or exile.
One of the major problems with monarchies, autocracies, and even the mob (and sometimes business) is succession plans. These forms of organization can be stable for a while, but they tend to fall apart entirely or fizzle out at least somewhat once the central figure goes into the ground.
The Republican Party largely would’ve preferred to move on from Donald Trump probably as soon as he lost in 2020, but the populist dynamics are not allowing it to happen. “His base” is still his. Your Rons Desantis and your Nikkis Haley are no match for his cult of personality.
If he were to die, the people who voted for him that outlived him would still be alive, but I think they’d have a large amount of difficulty finding another leader to follow in exactly the same way. They’d likely split in their support for other leaders and their “movement” would be greatly damaged as a result.