Listened to a very good Ezra Klein podcast with
Atlantic mag writer and historian Anne Applebaum.
She said that what fascists do, and the GOP is doing, is they bogart symbolism and the myth / narrative side of politics - as opposed to policy - and that's how they swell enthusiasm and support.
They convince supporters they are part of a great movement - larger than themselves yadda yadda. That way no one really cares they are being screwed over by, say, undoing Obamacare.
Actually, Obama had some of this magic, per Applebaum.
I think many of us observe this, but she articulated it so well. As she does.
Anne Elizabeth Applebaum is a Polish-American journalist and historian. She has written extensively about Marxism–Leninism and the development of civil society in Central and Eastern Europe. She has worked at The Economist and The Spectator, and was a member of the editorial board of The Washington Post. Wikipedia
https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkcy5zaW1wbGVjYXN0LmNvbS84MkZJMzVQeA/episode/YmE5ODRkMzYtMTBmYy00YWI3LTgxYTUtZDY2ZmNkYjViOTE3?ep=14