Former VP Mike Pence is poised to announce his run for presidential office

They've always been there, but they were cowed into silence and compliance for decades (since the Civil Rights movement). They were told all their lives that the beliefs they held were wrong and such people were bad. So the sat there, simmering. Then two events, both presidential, changed it all.

First, this country had the audacity to elect a Black man president. Because it was still considered distasteful to object to that, and yet they needed to protest, they formed the Tea Party movement. You also saw a huge spike of domestic terrorism, too. And, out on the fringes, there was a prominent guy who began stirring the pot. Something about a birth certificate. Then....

That guy got elected president, succeeding the Black guy. And he did it by saying out loud all the truly awful things these people felt. "He speaks to us," we would frequently hear. And it was true. Now, they could say, do, and wear what they wanted overtly. It became an actual point of view, a perspective people could hold. Say the racist things? Of course! Imagine how liberated they felt, how free! And if some still felt uncomfortable saying these things out loud? No problem! Lots of euphemisms and coded language was available to them. Heck, they could even pretend to care about traditional Republican issues, channeling it through the new (now former) guy. It worked for them.

That's why, ultimately, Trump doesn't matter. Oh, sure, as I said in an earlier post, no one is going to replace him while he is still there. You can't out-Trump Trump. But if he goes away, these people do not. Another will step into the vacuum left by the hulking race-baiting traitor. Who? It's hard to say since any potential one is either unknown to us or already neutered by Hair Furor. But he (inevitably a man) is out there, somewhere, biding his time.*

This part of America is never going to go back to sitting in the back seat while "Establishment" Republicans drive. They're the reason we can't have nice things.

(*) For potential candidates, look for a Republican White male who does NOT enter the 2024 primary race, someone you would expect to run. THAT person is biding his time....)

 

Yes, my belief is that most of them would deny being racist and many (perhaps even most) would sincerely be denying it even though they are racist. Of course the self admitting racists are especially strong Trump supporters. But yes, it's a long term problem in the Republican base that was brought to a boil for the two reasons you mention, Obama and Trump.