Well written Sir, and the GOP really has nothing to court "other" voters anyway so they use the "us vs them" theory, paint "them" as commie-loving anti-American types and hope the rotten message sticks with enough people to eek out a win. The simple fact that people came out of the woodwork in record numbers to defeat trump does leave me with a faint glimmer of hope.This exactly the people like DeSantis and the like are targeting and coddling to. These type of people don't care if they live or die. In a sane world of people, banning school mask mandates or other helpful health measures will disproportionately hurt Republicans. So why do it?
Because the inmates are running the asylum. This is not cold, calculating political savvy. It’s an attempt to stay on the right side of the crazy cultish mob they’ve incited. They define themselves as hating and opposing democrats. If democrats are for it, they’re against it even if it hurts themselves more than anyone else. It’s really that simple. They’re not going to do whatever the responsible adult/expert in the room tells them to. They’re all just trying to ride this wave to personal power and enrichment.
They thought that some residual instinct of rational self-preservation would kick in once the vaccines became widely available and dropping case and death numbers confirmed that the vaccines worked. They didn’t realize how many of their constituents were in full-on " I'm not going to do anything this government tells me to do" temper tantrum mode. And now they can’t try to lead their constituents toward any modicum of rational self-preservation because their party is having its GOP perpetual crazy competition. If you try to stand up for anything that the most toxically deranged of your supporters are opposed to, you’ll get Cheneyed. Don’t assume that Republicans are attempting to win free and fair elections in the future either - or that they’re trying to compete in the marketplace of ideas; they are not. They are trying to get power - that is it and nothing more. They’re done trying to court “other” voters; they will stick with "their kind", who will not so much put them over the top in elections, but validate their power grabs.
