Where Does The Energy Go?

 Much has been written in this vein about the perpetual grievance machine that is the modern "conservative" movement. The author of this piece accurately places Trumpism within a political continuity with the Tea Party movement. Sure, it has its roots in the Gingrich, Reagan and Goldwater movements, but those eventually made at least some nod towards the idea of actual governance. 

The defining characteristic and paradox of the Tea Party/Trumpist movement is that it represents some form of legitimate grievance: economic and cultural dislocation caused by economic changes over the past 30 years. That's real, though some of it is more a perception of relative deprivation than actual decline. As cities and suburbs thrive, rural areas fall further behind while still seeing some advances. It is the relative decline in status of whites without a college degree, especially men, that has driven the rise of the populist right. I think we get that at this point.

The question that is left hanging by this piece is that the Tea Party/Trumpist movement is incapable of addressing the actual cause of these grievances, because it is incapable of governing...so what happens?

McConnell realizes that if Democrats fail to win the Georgia Senate races, he can effectively make every single legislative agenda item that Biden proposes be a dead letter. No budgets, no programs...nothing. And the failure of Biden to actively improve the lives of Americans will feed into the Trumpist mythos. 

But what happens if Democrats win the Georgia runoffs? What happens if they are able to invest in rural America? In some ways, it won't make a difference to Cult 45. The Deplorables won't move an inch and Trumpism is singularly immune to evidence that disproves their a priori beliefs. 

How long, though, can they hold on to perpetual anger? It's exhausting. Joe Biden is hardly a guy to get worked up over, but a potential Kamala Harris run in either 2024 or 2028 would certainly fit the bill. The misogyny in Trumpism is arguably stronger than the racism. 

It's just difficult to believe that anger and grievance can fuel a long term movement, but then again it's been going for a decade. It's a minority movement, but one that enjoys veto points at critical junctures of our institutions. At some point, some of them will start dying. The only age demographic that Trump won a majority of is over 65. Biden won white college graduates by a slim majority, so Trumpism's base is shrinking in most directions. He was able to leverage incumbency and Red Scare tactics to won over some Hispanic votes, but he was still only able to win a third of Hispanic votes. He definitely motivated new or infrequent voters, but it was precisely their inconsistent voting patterns that make them unreliable for consistent victories.

Anger is exhausting, especially anger rooted in fear. Hopefully it will burn itself out.