People used to ask of Trump supporters, "How can they vote for this piece of shit?" or something similar. I used to answer, "Because he hates the people they hate."
Iowa Senator Joni Ernst just blew off questions about Medicaid cuts with "We all are going to die" and everyone thinks her voters might turn on her. Maybe, if--and only if--they see the cuts hurting them more than they can stand and not hurting the people they hate enough.
But even then it's not likely. As Steve M @stevemnomoremister.bsky.social puts it, "They live in a permanent state of rage against Democrats and every group identified with Democrats, and the rage is their joy. All she has to do is persuade them she's offending us and she's home free."
True, but I think it's even more than that. I think these people are addicted to their hatred, and to the simultaneous feelings of victimhood and superiority that fuel their anger. Now for the standard caveat: It's not all of them. Which is beside the point and which is BS anyway and gives them too much credit for being humans and not enough blame for being rationalizing self-justifying snakes.
You can't listen to all the racist shit and braggadocious dimwittery that comes out of Trump's mouth and then say, "Yeah, I wouldn't have said it that way" and "I'm not always comfortable with his style," and then come back with "But he's tough!" and "Businessman!" unless a big part of you is okay with all of it.
And you can't listen to him lying about everything and then believe him about anything, not even the things you really really want to be true, unless your whole self is okay with all of that, too.
These people are addicted to rage, so when Joni Ernst says "We're all going to die" or Mike Johnson lies to them about Medicaid cuts or Stephen Miller threatens due process, they don't think he means their due process. And then they imagine and fantasize about the people they think will be hurt, and they get that rush, and the only thing the rage pushers could ever do to lose them would be to not give them the drug.
So if, after Trump's COVID debacle and Jan. 6 and stolen boxes of secrets, and after snatching people off the streets and deporting American citizens and playing tariff roulette with the economy, and after turning the presidency into his own personal ATM and after inviting a drug addict in to take all the data and fire all the people, you're wondering why he's still cool with FORTY-FIVE PERCENT "of those polled," don't wonder.
Whether they are mainlining Trump's lunacy or think of themselves as weekend recreational users, they are addicts obsessed with their next fix. There is nothing Trump & Co can do to lose them.
Ask yourself, "What would a crack dealer have to do that would be so bad that a crackhead would turn down a free hit?"