I feel like I'm taking crazy pills! The fact that Republicans are consistently polling for Trump over any of the GOP primary challengers is beyond me. The reasons why Trump should have never been considered a fit candidate are myriad and they were obvious to 2015 Utah Republicans. Today? I don't know where the 2015 Republicans have gone.
I just finished the book Overreach by Owen Matthews. In the book, it discusses the Kremlin's metamorphosis from communism to liberal democracy to pseudo-conservative authoritarianism in regards to how the Ukrainian war started.
The book it mentions a Russian conservative organization that has the goal of creating a conservative version of "The International" the communist organization that tried to coordinate the communist revolution throughout Europe. It has an eerie plausibility to its existence and (in debatable degrees) success.
Russian conservatism today values the Russian Orthodox church, Russian greatness and imperialism, neo-czarism, violent rejection of western liberal ideals, highly accepting of conspiracy theories and highly suspicious of traditional journalism, encouragement of nationalistic clubs and organizations that are sometimes violent against opposition, and traditional family values (which apparently includes the right to beat a spouse without facing repercussions). Putin is unassailable in political rhetoric.
American conservatism is leaning towards authoritarian-leaning leadership that appears to be almost unassailable inside party political conversation, highly accepting of conspiracy theories (Q), growth of clubs like Proud Boys, III percenters, and other nationalistic organizations that do seem willing to pursue violence against opposition, almost entirely unaccepting of narratives presented by traditional journalism outlets.
Last but not least, conservatism seems to be backing Putin's invasion of a smaller weaker neighbor. Not even 30 years ago, George HW Bush heroically stood against Iraq doing the same thing against Kuwait.
The GOP of today is more reminiscent of Russia's All- Russia Peoples Front or the United Russia Political party than the GOP of 2016 or even the GOP of 1984-1988 when Reagan was president. If there is a conservative version of the old "Commonturn", they appear to have been successful in Hungary, the UK with Brexit, and in the US with the GOP.
