Republicans are not cowards, but true believers - and pretending otherwise “risks misleading the country about the true depths of GOP radicalization.”

@ThePlumLineGS is making a crucial point - and addresses a key question: What is animating the Republican assault on democracy? https://twitter.com/theplumlinegs/status/1391764177316982789

As @ThePlumLineGS argues, the idea that Republicans are just scared of Trump is utterly unconvincing analytically, as it simply doesn’t explain their current actions - and, one might add, also ignores the longstanding anti-democratic impulses and tendencies on the Right.

The “cowardice” tale is useful, of course: It provides cover for Republicans (better a coward than a far-right extremist); and it allows the news media to cling to the conception of the GOP as a “normal” democratic party that is just dealing with an authoritarian insurrection.

If it’s not cowardice, then what? Are Republicans simply doing the corrupt bidding of their plutocratic masters? Or are they just interested in power for power’s sake, willing to do whatever it takes to rule, animated by a mixture of nihilism and cynicism?

Both elements certainly play a role. No one should doubt the massive influence of mega-rich donors or the impact of money and corruption in shaping the GOP’s plutocracy-friendly platform. And yes, some of these people certainly just want power and don’t care about much else.

But such interpretations have obvious blind spots and pitfalls. First of all, they can’t tell us what Republicans are telling themselves when they look in the mirror - an important question if we’re exploring motives.

It’s unlikely that anyone would get up in the morning and say “I’m just a power-hungry servant of plutocratic elites” - every villain being the hero in their own story and all that...

Secondly, these approaches can’t really tell us what’s animating the Republican base, nor do they explain what’s driving state and local officials across the country who are all in on the GOO’s anti-democratic radicalization.

The people in Arizona who are looking for traces of bamboo on Chinese fake ballots? We should imagine them as true believers. https://twitter.com/dennis_welch/status/1390014544890658819

We are dealing with true believers - that’s a point @joshtpm has repeatedly made, as have many others. And that’s a scary proposition: Much more convenient to pretend everyone loves democracy and some of us are just scared of the mean demagogue. But that’s not what’s happening. https://twitter.com/joshtpm/status/1390348600207577088

The question really is: True believers in what? I think we need to start from the assumption that most Republicans are convinced they are waging a noble war against insidious forces that are threatening “real” (read: conservative white Christian patriarchal) America.

As most conservatives see it, the demographic, political, and cultural changes of previous decades are not simply “changing” the nation, but destroying it; multi-racial pluralism is not an ideal worth aspiring to, but a lethal threat to “real” Americanism.

What follows from this position is that the forces committed to multi-racial pluralism are “Un-American” - a threat to the nation or, more precisely perhaps, the real Volk and the “Will of the (conservative white Christian) People.”

That’s what @lionel_trolling captures precisely here: Democrats are seen not just as a political opponent, but as illegitimate actors pursuing an illegitimate political project. Democratic governance, therefore, is fundamentally illegitimate - it cannot, it must not be accepted. https://twitter.com/lionel_trolling/status/1391035191058182144

In this view, the question really no longer is “Is there concrete evidence for voter fraud?” Illegitimate political forces who threaten the very nature of “real” America claim to have won the election - how could that result be anything but illegitimate and fraudulent?

“Evidence” be dammed - for conservative Republicans a “higher truth” is at stake: The rule of the legitimate volk and the future of “real” America.

This is what makes the situation so acutely dangerous: These people are 100 percent committed to preventing multi-racial pluralistic democracy from ever becoming a reality, and to installing authoritarian one-party minority rule to preserve conservative white Christian dominance.

They are not cowards, not merely corrupt (although some definitely are), not just nihilistic cynics (although Mitch McConnell undoubtedly is that too). They are believers - and we should believe them and act accordingly. The future of democracy depends on it.