Dismay

 That accurately describes the feelings of The Sensible Conservative and other traditional conservatives (Reaganites of old) when noting the staying power of Donald J Trump.

 The expectation was that Trump’s support from 2000 would sharply decline in the aftermath of his (contested) defeat. His ascendancy to power would lapse into history as an aberration.

Now one has to wonder if his foes were the aberration, not the other way around.

 To understand what happened, the focus should be on how his base, not Trump himself. The former president, after all, is a known quantity. The motivations of his supporters, however, may be hard to discern. After all, Trump is undeniably a mean, nasty man who displays shocking (at least to his detractors) ignorance of history and the country’s system of government. Knowledge of these facts, some would still think, doesn’t  discourage Trump backers from supporting him.  They do so despite that knowledge.  But that may be a faulty reading.

 There is strong evidence that his support is more likely to stem from  “because" he talks and acts that way.

 Listening to Trump advocates makes clear that the antagonism against "Washington elites" – both conservatives and liberals/leftists – is palpable. They are neither believed nor trusted.

 Trump is seen as a champion – fighting for them.  Thus, when he says the 2000 election was stolen or that Ukraine should not receive our full support, those positions are adopted.  They believe he’s on “their” side.

This occurs even though that person previously had no hesitation in endorsing as generally honest our electoral system or strong opposition to Putin and Russia.

 But faith in Trump overcomes prior beliefs. Have many Trump voters become cultists as in he is viewed as a savior? Is "make America great again" a theology?

 It is, of course, simplistic to lump all of Trump's supporters into a single category. And it is not fair or accurate to do so.

 Certainly, some have faith in a devotional sense that he will lead them to the promised land. But polls suggest that most Trump backers are motivated by anger over the status quo which they see as their foe. They  want a warrior to fight for them. Yet the fight seems more important than success. (Electability is of secondary importance to fighting hard.)

 That seems odd in a conventional political sense. But if the anger is combined with pessimism, the priority is sensible indeed. If defeat is to be expected, "going down fighting" has its allure.

 [Note: if one believes that the election was stolen from Donald Trump in 2000 – 3/4s of Republicans do – shouldn't Trump's nomination be assured? The wrong must be made right. With that in mind, DeSantis and Haley were never able to attract such voters.  They remained loyal.  Opposing candidates were doomed before they began.]