And even look at Dubya. He was the candidate largely because of his appeal to the Christian Right and his ability to talk like an authentic Texas moron (even though he was Mr. Silver Spoon New England Prep School and Yale). That’s how he won, and he’s still the only Republican to win a popular vote since the 1980s.

McCain tried to run a dignified campaign but lost in a landslide to a Kenyan moose lamb, with the dim-witted bimbo he chose as a running mate stealing the show from him by doing....guess what? Basically by laying out the blueprint Trump would later use.

The openly racist and nativist Tea Party came along and galvanized the right into some midterm victories, but then the voters settled on another reasonable milquetoast conservative, Romney.

Romney’s “you didn’t build that” message was a dud even running against a candidate that....for some reason I just can’t put my finger on....the right was united in seething hatred. They lost again, and the narrative became white traditionalist Christian American decline, loss of power, etc.

Then came Trump and he started a campaign around what these people actually care about and rallied millions into his cult. Yes, he is to his credit an ace con man and branding genius. But the rubes were there for the taking and literally screaming out for a strong dictator to save them from the rising tide of brown, black, pink, and other types of others coming to “replace” them.

So to your point, no this wasn’t predicted in 2000, but the seeds were planted and we’ve been moving in this direction since the 70’s. I also think online radicalization is a very real thing. You can witness it here if you think about it.