Great essay Barry. But elections are easily manipulated, and look at the landslides a Putin can produce for himself. The Republics have a good long game, they took over the states and Gerrymandered them to stay in power, they took over the courts, especially SCOTUS. If all else fails, they will just outlaw elections altogether, or have fake one party elections like other fascist nations.

On abortions they really did jump the shark, and they may be running out of pie in sky cultural issues to hold in front (but never actually achieve) of their rabid base. But be careful what you wish for, because when elections don't work for them anymore, then the fascist shit will really hit the fan. Note: https://medium.com/@daneke/full-frontal-fascism-what-is-really-at-stake-in-the-trump-trial-a74d8c3503a4