[knaq]

You missed the point if you thought Trump was about a personality cult. Lots of Americans tolerated his personality because they like the policy and the results:

He built over 500 miles of crime-stopping wall, raised tariffs on China, didn't attack a new country, appointed decent judges, appointed a wonderful person for the Department of Education, put an end to racist anti-American hate sessions at federal employers, improved the H1B visa situation, ditched the Paris Accord, cut our taxes, got that pipeline approved, stopped China from using NAFTA via Mexico, got several peace treaties signed, and cut lots of economy-choking regulations. Just before that virus hit, he got us to the lowest unemployment numbers in recorded history (half a century) for black people and he got income inequality to go down a bit for the first time in ages. He even signed the First Step Act, fixing the overly harsh sentences imposed on crack users by another Biden-sponsored law.

That's all policy that people wanted, not personality. I don't know if that is more reassuring or more terrifying for you.

[mullingitover]

A few translations, as seen by a majority of the electorate:

> He built over 500 miles of crime-stopping wall

Mostly repaired the existing wall which accomplishes practically nothing about illegal immigration anyway

> raised tariffs on China

Started a trade war that ravaged the farm sector, resulting in costly bailouts

> didn't attack a new country

Partnered with Saudi dictatorship to escalate drone strikes, and abolished transparency around them, attempted to start war with Iran by brazenly assassinating a high-ranking official

> appointed decent judges

Packed the courts with unqualified ideologues

> appointed a wonderful person for the Department of Education

Appointed a person who ruthlessly fought against relief for student debt

> put an end to racist anti-American hate sessions at federal employers

Aggressively fought against improving race relations

> ditched the Paris Accord

Went back on a climate policy supported by 70% of voters

> stopped China from using NAFTA via Mexico

Used foreign bogeyman to distract from automation, which has eliminated far more jobs

> Just before that virus hit

Bungled the biggest crisis to hit the nation in decades

> got us to the lowest unemployment numbers in recorded history

Was born on third base and claimed he hit a triple

Overall the biggest signal that they've devolved into a personality cult was that the republican party was so overconfident, despite all signals to the contrary, that they had no platform whatsoever in the 2020 campaign.

[knaq]

I hope that's just how you believe the majority of the electorate to be uninformed. Some is opinion, but some is just wrong.

Calling the wall a "repair" is far from reality. It is different in size and structure. The new wall is 18 or 30 feet high, cuttable more as a stunt than a practical bypass. It extends at least 10 feet underground as a 2-foot-thick concrete wall to prevent easy tunneling. In some places the wall is both sizes, doubled up with a road down the middle. Much of the old barrier was only I-beam steel in the ground, intended to stop cars and trucks. You could ride through on a horse or motorcycle. Other parts were just 8 to 12 feet high, without any underground protection from tunnels. Instead of being a major operation, a tunnel just required 1 person with a trowel and an hour to spare.

To say it "accomplishes practically nothing" is strange. About half of the illegal aliens present in the United States came via illegal crossings. Those are the ones who matter the most, because they obviously were denied a visa. In other words, they probably have a history that caused them to fail the background check. Illegal crossings also bring drugs to the USA, guns to Mexico (see "Operation Fast and Furious" for when we even allowed it), dehydration in the desert, drowning in the All-American Canal, and migrants getting rapped by their smugglers.

The trade war started half a century ago. It's still a war when we aren't fighting back. We can't opt out. We can fight, or we can accept certain loss. The farm sector provides far fewer jobs than the manufacturing that is lost to China.

Assassinating a high-ranking official is not attempting to start a war. The USA can get away with that, so it does. It's notable that CNN had a few days of loving Trump when he did that; they want war.

It's a matter of opinion about judges, but for certain the top 3 are not unqualified ideologues in comparison to Sotomayor.

Relief for student debt would be horribly unfair to both non-borrowers (like a plumber, car salesman, or marine) and responsible borrowers. The economics term for the problems caused is called "moral hazard". We would be subsidizing expensive low-value incomplete degrees, and thus encouraging more of this waste.

The effect of those racist employer-mandated hate sessions has been studied. It turns out that they cause the exact opposite effect from the supposed intent. When you put a bunch of employees in a room and lecture them about race, they start thinking of each other by race. It brings out the latent racism, raises suspicion, and creates resentment. Race relations were doing better under Trump until the BLM fundraising riots started stirring up anger. Sometimes you have to forgive and forget, but that isn't good fundraising.

People like climate policy when detached from any mention of job losses and taxes. The same goes for healthcare and many other things. Who wouldn't want something if there isn't a price tag? Mention the price, and opinions suddenly change. You won't find 70% in favor of the Paris Accord when you mention the price.

Automation may have eliminated far more jobs than foreign bogeymen, but that only increases the urgency for pulling jobs back from China and elsewhere. If the USA loses 1 job to a Chinese worker and 5 jobs to automation, that means that 6 jobs need to be transferred from China to the USA.

The virus crisis was mostly self-imposed by the states and by the people. The actual virus harms very few. The fact that rioters were allowed to form huge groups while businesses were shut down tells us the truth: the motive was to prevent Trump from having his record-breaking economy. In any case, basic hygiene is a personal choice, not a presidential choice.

There was a republican platform. For a rather democratic reason, it was the same as in 2016. The virus had prevented gathering everybody together, and it wouldn't be proper to choose a new platform without everybody there. No normal person reads the platform anyway, and elected officials aren't bound to it.