At first, the Fox-GOP partnership was a boon to GOP candidates, but what the authors call “outsourcing voter mobilization” has drawbacks. Eventually, FOX exerted control over GOP officials . . .
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They were forced to cater to Fox’s demands, which forced GOP officials to adopt more extreme policies.
Now it appears that Trump has taken over from Fox.
Trump controls the GOP voters. That's where he gets his power.
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As long as Trump controls the base, he has everyone by the throat.
One purpose served by the "the election was stolen from me" narrative is that he remains relevant. He keeps the base loyal to him. If he concedes and says he lost, he loses that power.
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Perhaps this is about the Georgia runoffs.
If they anger Trump by forcing him to concede, he refuses to help (or promises to hurt) the Perdue and Loeffler races.
They're not a majority of Americans. Not by a long shot. But they're a majority of Republican voters. It goes like this:
🔹Trump controls a majority of GOP voters
🔹The GOP is a major party with power across the nation
🔹Trump retains power even after he's out of the White House
What Trump counts on when he spins these lies is that (1) his base won't put these clues together and (2) enough of his base and GOP leadership know he is lying and they go along anyway because they benefit from the lies or they're scared of him.
The first attempt was to “get rid of the ballots,” which Trump did with a series of groan-inducing frivolous lawsuits that should have embarrassed every lawyer who brought them. theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/…
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Now that it’s clear that these lawsuits will fail, Trump (reportedly) turns his attention to the electoral college.
The courts aren't going to install a dictator (which is what ignoring the vote would do).
Lawsuits require evidence.
Moreover, federal judges with lifetime appointments have no motive to install a dictator and (effectively) give up all their own power to a vindictive person.
People are asking about the military. The military is not going to install Trump as a dictator. Soldiers and generals would have to obey illegal orders and circumvent the Constitution. Not. Going. To. Happen.
This country is too big.
That said, Trump is up to something.
He's figuring out how to line his own pockets and cover his tracks.
He's figuring out how to maneuver the levers of government for his personal enrichment while he controls them.
He's figuring out how to consolidate influence (collect favors, perhaps) to remain relevant.
The fear is also explained by Richard Hofstader, who wrote the classic work⤵️
Hofstadter reviewed American politics from before the founding of the nation through McCarthyism. He noticed a pattern among an impassioned minority on the fringes of the political spectrum.
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He called their behavior the “paranoid style” in politics.
Those embracing the paranoid style of politics believe that unseen satanic forces are trying to destroy something larger in which they belong.
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On his way out the door, Trump will still be insisting that the election was rigged and the Democrats stole it through massive fraud involving absentee ballots ⤵️