best bit is here, look at the gloss chait gives to meatball ron's conspicuous cruelty:
But do these maneuvers actually resonate with the party’s rank and file? Many of his moves seem consumed with grievances that are only intelligible to those steeped in state-of-the-art right-wing social analysis.
vacuous culture war would be a sure winner, if only the rubes were smart enough to get it, lmao.
This is almost word-for-word what my mother, the more conservative of my two parents, said. I almost put it in my comment. My father said something along the lines of "How could this be a big deal when I'm pretty sure I have never even met a trans person?"
I've got a cousin-by-marriage who is trans. My god(now)mother who is also trans. Personally knowing them has a huge impact on how I've perceived the importance of trans-rights.
I think the "They're just 1% why do they matter?" attitude is good for defusing the hysteria. But its a nasty place when anti-trans laws are going into effect and the public response becomes "Throwing trans-people under the bus is an acceptable sacrifice for political expediency". Having skin in the game gives people someone to fight for.