Not sure I can articulate this well, but it seems to me that the features of Trump's personality/psyche that enabled him to capture & hold the allegiance of the RW base are *incommensurate with competence*. His malignant narcissism makes him genuinely unaware ...
... of the norms & conventions he's violating. He just bulls through them with zero hesitation or self-awareness. That thrills the baying mob. But he things that make people smart & competent -- self-awareness, self-discipline, the ability to delay gratification -- are ...
... impossible to completely conceal. When a Hawley or Cotton violates the same conventions, they are *aware* of it. There's a purposefulness, an artifice, a wink that just doesn't sell as well. Much of what Trump "accomplished" he did so by simply not realizing ...
... that it's crazy, that it ought to be accompanied by shame. Shame simply doesn't exist for Trump. For a more intelligent, decently socialized human being, it's present. They can ignore or suppress it, but it's present, and ultimately people can *tell*.
I dunno, maybe this is all wrong, but I just think Trump's unique persona -- which is the result of malignant narcissism, fairly rare in the general population -- will be difficult to replicate, & I'm not sure he could have done what he did without it.
A final note on this thread -- this is the best thing I ever wrote about Trump and I stand by every word of it. It helps explain how he did what he did but it also illustrates how unusual (and thus difficult to emulate?) he is. vox.com/2016/9/29/1308…
A reader reminds me that THIS is actually the best thing I ever wrote about Trump & I stand behind every word of this, too. vox.com/policy-and-pol…
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