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David Brooks wrote this thing recently on “why there’s no plan to stop Donald Trump,” and while he got 1,000 words out of it … I think it can be summarized a bit more directly. In essence, there’s no plan because right now online, most people just scream past each other about different things (that’s Issue 1), there’s no real “strategy” anywhere on the right or the left, and the difference is that the right admits they have no platform (2), and Trump triggers people on the left so much that all they want to do is meme-drag him instead of looking into why people might be considering him. That’s kinda why there’s no plan.
The pull quote above, which is from that article, neatly summarizes a lot of modern America, i.e. the place “where opinions become identities.” It can feel very chaotic because every day there’s a new thing to “opine” about, and most of those opinions are just “falling in line with the side you’re on.” You will periodically see stuff like Liz Cheney or others breaking rank, and it doesn’t work that well (Cheney lost her seat), but mostly every new issue to weigh in on is just following the leader. I’d argue the leader is really Tucker Carlson (he does the “message setting” for the right), but obviously in terms of media coverage, power, and offices held, it’s still Trump. DeSantis may be the guy but it seems like he lacks personality. Dunno.
