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The realignment is totally unsurprising if you accept that the US parties represent different tribes, rather than any universal political principles or approaches to government. Whichever party represents the tribe that is on top will want to cement the advantage, conserve the circumstances that put it there, jealously guard the wealth and integrity of the state that is an extension of the winning tribe's volition, and reinforce its power to keep its enemies down. The one that represents the underdog will want the opposite of all that, to subvert the culture, overturn hierarchies, constrain and weaken the state and redistribute its assets.
As the Wheel of Fortune turns, if you are caught up in the idea that D/R mean left/right mean concrete political beliefs, you are bound to be surprised at the parties supposedly "betraying their principles" or undulating sinusoidally.
You're right but it sucks because back in the 1980s until maybe 2014 I never thought of the political parties as two tribes.
George W. Bush had a 94% approval rating in 2001. People said it didn't matter who you voted for since both parties are the same. John Jackson vs. Jack Johnson was a meme.
Then woke happened and half the country got otherized.
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