TFG is declining physically and mentally. Win or lose, he’s got a short horizon. Ruth Ben-Ghiat (historian of dictators) points out that a cult-of-personality doesn’t survive the loss of its leader. There is no heir apparent; not among the dwarfs who were on the debate stage or the right-wing worms in Congress. The vehement resentment and hate of MAGA is only sustained by TFG. I can’t imagine Haley, Cruz or DeSantis taking up the mantle. The RW pols supported TFG because he motivated the base.
A majority of Republicans do not support banning abortion, undermining IVF, book bans, Neo-Nazis, deporting legal immigrants, child separation, attacking LGBTQ individuals, relaxing gun restrictions, banning contraception, environmental degradation, or abusing federal agencies for partisan ends. Putin and Orban are TFG’s icons, not those of the GOP. TFG brought the Culture War issues to the fore and gave every faction of the Right a cover to be their worst selves. Despite the efforts of Fox Broadcasting, the passion for the social issues will decline when he’s gone. So will the propensity for political violence.
TFG represents a horrible threat should he be elected. But it is destined to be short lived. The GOP is content to restrict voting and muck with gerrymandering and the procedural rules rather than supporting a dictatorship. GOP’ers may realize that there is no such thing as a Republican Dictator. A dictator won’t need them or their party.