Could you expound more on this? I'd be curious to get your opinion on what's happening with the alt-right and its takeover of the Republican Party.
Okay now... I will not waste my time spending my whole day responding back and forth to this to people who desperately want to think of all Republicans as stupid, racist rubes from West Virginia to validate their own less-than-stellar daily lives, but this is hyperbole at its best. Yes, I noticed this was a characterization you had an axe to grind with on multiple other occasions. Can't say I blame you either, I also tend to get incensed with the constant stereotyping of Democrats from obnoxious simpletons whose thinking mostly consists in terms of hackneyed strawmen, (you know the type, one who utilizes "libtard" as a standard putdown) so I can relate. I was never of the opinion that ignorant hicks were what
all Republicans were, they are merely one faction of your party. Don't worry, I acknowledge we have some real "winners" on my side of the aisle, too.
First of all, when the hell have Trump's words been worth anything? Using what Trump says as a key to understanding what he actually believes is a terrible way to start off any argument. Secondly, I don't actually think Trump is truly "alt-right," he has no ideology other than self worship, but he certainly has no qualms with bolstering off of whatever group is willing to provide him support either. Third, he's certainly crafting an environment far more favorable for alt-right rhetoric to flourish and expand its influence. Fourth, regarding Bannon, I'm not even sure "alt-right" truly encapsulates the extent of his depravity; he comes across as a brutish, nasty man who wishes to destroy the system currently in place simply to revel in the act of destruction.
But I take your point, the alt-right has yet to actually fulfill a true hijacking of the Republican Party, but what's not up for dispute is the growing popularity of white nationalism within its base. Trump ran a campaign of which the primary theme was the identity politics of white grievances, and
won. There were a dozen other standard establishment Republicans the base could have chosen from if level-headed fiscal conservatism was really what they cared about, and instead the plurality of your base emphatically told those "cuckservatives" to go pound grass. They wanted the man who served as an amplifier of the most unsavory elements within the GOP; the race-baiting, the misogyny, the xenophobia, the unbridled Caesarism of a verbal pugilist who speaks on a level geared towards resonating with the most uneducated, ignorant, lowest common denominator of American society. That was who they decided to elect, the man who's appeal affirmed all the worst stereotypes Democrats had lobbed at Republicans over the years.
Does that mean all Republicans automatically fit said stereotypes? Of course not, but you're fooling yourself if you think more moderate views like yours are going to be what people associate the Republican Party with for the next four years. Trump is the current figurehead of your party, whether you like it or not, and he's already having an impact on its platform. If you think the GOP will manage to inoculate itself from the broader shifts his presidency represents, you are sorely mistaken. The base has already undergone dramatic reversals of some if its former positions that used to be staples, such as its support of free trade and disapproval of Russia, as well as several other policy positions, and these reversals permeate well beyond Trump's core base that fueled his initial rise. Donald Trump ascended a power vacuum created by a disconnect between the Republican base and its establishment, which provides ample ground for him to remold Republican opinions on several classic stances. We're already witnessing this right now.
Which would be another instance where the establishment is misaligned with the base, as the majority of GOP voters support it.
I agree with you, Democrats need to do a better job choosing which celebrities they decide to use as spokespeople for their message.
