One thing people misunderstand about totalitarianism is that it's not just about politicizing every aspect of life to build an all-powerful government. It also requires a Party that is even more powerful than the State, as is explicitly the case in Communist China.
A ruling Party that is more powerful than the nominal State is essential for making sure the power of the State is never turned against the totalitarian ideology. The Party becomes the gatekeeper of State power, ensuring only those with correct ideology rise to high office.
In Iran, for example, the authoritarian theocracy explicitly controls who gets to run for head of secular government. Voters get a "choice" of candidates approved by the mullahs, who are the Party that exists above the State.
In America, Democrats practice this totalitarian ideal through identity politics. The Party controls who gets to claim they are members of privileged classes and claims the power to speak for huge groups of people. The Party is very, very quick to strip identity from dissenters.
Our country has become hyper-politicized in almost every aspect of life. Holding a Democrat Party card literally changes all the rules. Without it, the innocent are presumed guilty, ambition is condemned as greed, and you can't be "authentically" black, Hispanic, or even female.
Some warned the Obama Democrats against building a super-state whose power could be turned against them. The near-term answer for why they ignored those warnings is they believed they had a lock on the White House for a generation.
But the long-term answer is that the Left believes in that ideal of Party over State, working to build an environment where only the Party faithful can control the levers of power - not just elected representatives, but more importantly, unelected permanent positions.
A Party card is needed to hold important offices, thanks in part to public employee unions. A Party card is almost mandatory to be a member of academia. And a Party card is required to unlock the benefits of identity politics, which are now all-consuming.
That's one of the reasons the Left is scrambling to destroy the Electoral College. They want elections decided by cities where a Democrat Party card is mandatory to access the political system.
Identity politics, however, are the vital ingredient for security Party above the State in the American brand of totalitarianism. If the Party gets to define who you are and speak for you, elections are a minor obstacle that can be finessed when they go the "wrong" way. /end
