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Why Republican Policies Succeed

Republican voters are a minority in the US, yet their policy objectives are repeatedly successful over the objections of the majority. What is the secret? Basically, Republicans will tolerate just about anything in a candidate, so long as the candidate wins and their policies end up getting advanced. By contrast Democrats can’t bring themselves to bother voting unless they fall in love with the candidate. And then they stop paying attention after the election, as if simply voting a savior into office is all they need to do.

These traits are on full display in this primary season, where Republicans are already resigned to voting for a second Trump term (and they will vote for him, so long as there is an R after his name on the ballot). And Democrats are in the middle of a process where 20 qualified candidates are being evaluated on their likability and 68 additional mutually-contradictory purity tests, with the implicit threat that if this or that section of the Democratic coalition doesn’t get exactly what they want, they won’t bother to vote in the general election.

And that is the structural reason why Republican policies keep getting enacted. (Yes, of course it is more complicated than that, but this is a major factor).

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