this type of voter will never make sense to me. "I want Democrats to control the Senate, but I want them to be overruled by a malevolent dictator."

reminder that POPULISM is the tool of demagogues. there is a difference between POPULISM, and good policy that happens to be popular.

Republican villains: criminals, immigrants, intellectuals, Black people, brown people, gay people, trans people, poor people, left-leaning people, women, children, Muslims, atheists, Jews, anyone who disagrees with them, and the Constitution

Democratic villains: Republicans and the rich (ostensibly)

that is an extremely simplistic and outdated definition of populism. again, there is a distinction between "doing what is right which is what benefits the people" and "telling the people whatever they want to hear whether it's right or even feasible."

and how the hell was Obama's 2012 campaign more populist than his 2008 campaign?!

first of all, how is it possible that "most Americans don't have a bachelor's degree," I was told the entire reason tuition has skyrocketed and a bachelor's isn't enough for entry-level jobs anymore is because EVERYONE has a bachelor's now?

but if climate change "fails to resonate with working-class voters," that is (a) fucking sad and (b) not a reason to stop talking about climate change! that shit is gonna start "resonating with voters" real fuckin soon when summer in Ohio is 6 mo of 100+°F

is there anything more American than forfeiting democracy itself to save a few bucks at the gas pump?

allowing democracy to die won't fix the problems that made you disillusioned. politics will continue to have a massive impact on your daily life no matter what you do, so you can either make your voice heard, or sit back in silent defeat.