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I think you're spot on here, with the one caveat that this pattern matches a lot of stuff that people say about every election.
So when the Republicans put forward someone like J.D. Vance or Ron Desantis in the next election, I expect to hear the same howling in the media. But I'll be disappointed if I hear it coming from people who should know better.
To a degree, this is true (I remember the wailing and gnashing of teeth and "America is Dead" from my liberal friends when Bush was reelected in 2004 -- and even then I was a heterodox centrist who got hate for not thinking Bush was Literally Hitler), but I genuinely do think it has become worse in my lifetime, and we're at a local minimum if not a historical one now.
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The phrases "Worse than Trump" and "Like Trump but worse" are going to be VERY common in 2028. And you will disappointed.
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