Meanwhile, 44 percent backed the American tradition of competing branches of government as a model, if sometimes “frustrating,” system.
Why would people want to live under an authoritarian’s thumb? It’s rooted, experts say, in a psychological need for security—real or perceived—and a desire for conformity, a goal that becomes even more acute as the country undergoes dramatic demographic and social changes. People also like to obey a strong leader who will protect the group—especially if it is the “right” group whose interests will be protected. Recall the Trump supporter who, during the 2019 government shutdown, complained, “He’s not hurting the people he needs to be hurting.”
At this point, I would be unsurprised if a third of Americans voted for an industrial meat shredder for President, even after it had been repeatedly and clearly explained they would be marched into it at gunpoint if it won. The lower part of our bell curve is… well… very, very low.
So you’re saying trump could shoot his supporters in the middle of Fifth Avenue and they’d say “Nice shot sir!”?
Maybe Republicans would pick a more moderate candidate if they weren’t shackled by First Past the Post voting to a giant flaming turd.
Maybe democrats would pick someone who doesn’t support genocide.
But capitalists hate competition… thus FPTP voting remains.