@Maj. Bill Martin , you are of course correct that socialists and extremists constituted a portion of the Democratic party prior to Trump. What Trump has done has elevated such extremism in reaction to Trump's fierce embrace of identity politics.
Again, I think this is where our difference lies. I see Democrat extremism as not only existing prior to Trump, but
accelerating prior to Trump. I truly believe they'd be in essentially the exact same place policy wise regardless of who was in the Oval Office.
Indeed, that may be the single biggest difference between Trumpism and the Main Street conservatism practiced by the likes of Ronald Reagan - Trump believes, as the Dems long have, that everyone is defined by his or her race, religion, ethnicity, etc. Trump, like the Dems, practices the politics of tribalism, of us vs. them.
I don't agree that Trump believes everyone is defined by their race, ethnicity, etc.. But I do agree that he is much more likely to play "tribal", us v. them politics. It's just that the "us" is those who believe in more or less traditional conservatism, and the "them" is the left. And he doesn't pull any punches when criticizing them. I also think he doesn't have the same sense of "treading lightly" that has sort of evolved in American politics on certain subjects.
For example, Bush was sometimes referred to as a "chimp" by some on the left. Trump has been called an orange baboon and orange orang-utan. Now, it Trump's mind, if it's fair to call him a monkey, then it would be equally fair to refer to another politician as a monkey -- even if they were black. He wouldn't care about the taboo/baggage that would come along with that. So that's why I think he steps in it so often. He really doesn't intend those things racially at all. He's just not willing to abide by taboos that don't make sense to him. So, he often offends.
And what has this wrought? Well, the Dems have doubled down - just look at the evidence. If you support the enforcement of immigration laws, you're a racist. If you oppose the forced busing of schoolchildren, you're a racist. Hell, if you support asking a citizenship question on the census, you're a racist. The Dems believe that everyone who opposes them is the irredeemable enemy - and hence the search for compromise and common ground is not only fruitless, but a betrayal.
See, I think they were making those exact same arguments
before Trump. So, I think Trump has had very little -- if anything -- to do with the radicalization of the left. However, I do believe that Trump turns off some moderates, some of whom end up supporting by default Democrats they normally wouldn't support. So while he hasn't made the Democrats any more radical, he may have made it easier for some of the radicals to win general elections.
I oppose his re-nomination because he and the Dems are engaged in a dangerous war of tribe vs. tribe that has the potential to allow the American people to make an historic mistake, and wake up next November to find they've elected a President and Congress with a mandate to enact extremism and permanently divide this nation into warring factions.
Given that I think the Democrats have been doing that for a long time, I'd rather we start throwing stones back there way rather than just politely letting them continually push the envelope and win by attrition.
