Authoritarians

[xoxoxoBruce]

Authoritarians, a major force is US politics, explains the rise of Trump and why he is not changing the face of politics, but is a result of that change.

We may now have a de facto three-party system: the Democrats, the GOP establishment, and the GOP authoritarians
But while the party may try to match Trump's authoritarian rhetoric, and its candidates may grudgingly embrace some of his harsher policies toward immigrants or Muslims, in the end a mainstream political party cannot fully commit to extreme authoritarian action the way Trump can.

That will be a problem for the party. Just look at where the Tea Party has left the Republican establishment. The Tea Party delivered the House to the GOP in 2010, but ultimately left the party in an unresolved civil war. Tea Party candidates have challenged moderates and centrists, leaving the GOP caucus divided and chaotic.

Now a similar divide is playing out at the presidential level, with results that are even more destructive for the Republican Party. Authoritarians may be a slight majority within the GOP, and thus able to force their will within the party, but they are too few and their views too unpopular to win a national election on their own.

And so the rise of authoritarianism as a force within American politics means we may now have a de facto three-party system: the Democrats, the GOP establishment, and the GOP authoritarians.

[tw]

And so today, mainstream Republican Party insiders are doing an "all hands on deck" attack on Trump. In many ways, they never understood the type of person they had recruited. Are now shocked that Trump has tapped those authoritarian types who only need emotion to know what is right. Insults - not logic - are the appeal.

Suddenly mainline Republicans are shocked at what works best on so many Republican voters.

Meanwhile, it is interesting how Trump uses his insults. It is now so routine that some people are calling it acceptable. Even Cruz (another who achieves power by insulting) is not as good at it.