Remember when Republicans put the good of the country ahead of their political party? Back when Republicans rejected Barry Goldwater for his extremism, there was still some decency left in the world. Sometimes people would join together to do what was best for the country.

But not anymore. Despite a lot of “Never Trump” talk earlier in the campaign, that largely seems to be fading. Republicans will surely gather around Trump and support him, because, as we’ve already seen for the last eight years, supporting the Republican “brand,” even if with all its open racism and ugliness, is now preferable to letting a Democrat win. Supporting Trump, despite strong beliefs that he would be really bad for the country, is better to Republicans than supporting someone from the “other side.”

How did we get here?

The Republican party has moved steadily right for decades. It has become more extremist and more partisan. The Republican spin doctors have been telling the country so many lies for so long, that they have started to believe the lies.

They told us that Obamacare isn’t just going to have some problems, it is going to be the end of America. It is going to have death panels and it is a government takeover of healthcare. They now believe those lies. Rather than fixing the problems with Obamacare, they think it is better to throw it out and take away health insurance for millions of U.S. citizens.

They told us that any gun regulations at all are going to lead to a complete ban of guns. And that without guns, suddenly there is going to be a huge jump in violent crime.

They told us that by keeping companies from polluting, or taking unfair advantage of customers, or endangering their workers, or endangering their customers, that we are driving business from our country.

They told us that allowing two gay people that love each other to get married is an attack on Christianity.

They’ve sold so much fear that it has led them down a path where the people that have soaked up their rhetoric now support people like Trump and Cruz.

And they’ve sold so much fear that it has led people that even have the good sense to recognize how toxic and bad for this country Trump and Cruz are, to support “their party” anyway.

Oh how times have changed. Indeed!

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/dc/donald-trump-barry-goldwater