Seagull58
In the Algarve
The GOP is, to an extent but not as yet completely, controlled by Christofascists. Even more worryingly, so is the SCOTUS. Even more worryingly still, the SCOTUS contains corrupt Christofascists who have been appointed for life. Despite very clear evidence of Thomas's corruption over more than 20 years (and recent evidence that Allito is also "dirty") there is no clear path to remove them.American elections have always been about voting for the ‘man’ not the Party - cult of personality goes hand in hand with electing a POTUS - not so much in British politics except perhaps Tony Blair and BoJo both leaders in recent years, very much voted in on what personal attributes they’ve sold to the electorate IMO. Bizarrely, not being the ‘right’ personality (and thus electability) seems to have more impact in internal leadership elections in British politics than it does in American politics where they seem not to care how much electability a candidate has.
However, let’s not kid ourselves that Trump’s rise to power is all about cult of personality- the Republican Party has moved further to the right in recent years than the Dems have moved to the left - the alternatives to Trump (eg Ron DeSantis ) would have been even worse on a policy basis. Moderates and less religious zealots have left the Party leaving the GOP radicalised by fundamentalist and hard right nationalists - it is lazy thinking to suggest this election‘s priorities are all about keeping Trump out - it masks the heinous beast that the Republican Party has now become, Trump or not and how it is being increasingly influenced by politicians like Mark Robinson:
Far-right candidates see Super Tuesday wins at traditional Republicans’ expense
Highest-profile victory goes to Mark Robinson, a Hitler-quoting anti-abortion extremist who will now run for North Carolina governorwww.theguardian.com