Not quite so fast: some 20 or so counties in Oregon (about as much area as Missouri) want to secede from Oregon and become part of "Greater Idaho", giving it about the southern third of Oregon's sea coast (including Coos Bay) and making Idaho the 4th largest state by area (larger than Montana). It would be likely that big chunks of eastern Washington would also want to join up. Trying to manage a state that large with walls and security cams seems a daunting challenge.
Yeah maybe on second thought it would be better to just put out some beers and snacks and sit down and talk to Trump fans about what's actually on their minds, if one can find some who are not all wired into Fox talking points and talk radio memes du jour.
Our handle on ordinary right-leaning American concerns is pretty skewed by all the anecdotal and often stereotypical video clips and social media posts by or about Trump supporters. A lot of that is quote-tweted sarcastically by lefties, and some of the original posts are probably put up by activists or anarchists with an assortment of agendas.
To me it feels like not all the conservative-leaning discontent in the USA comes just from white supremacists and ex-mil with dreams of guerilla warfare. So my larger question is why they don't try to get the Republican Party to focus less on Trump and potential heirs to his reality TV schtick. Why not demand more focus on policy issues likely to affect their daily lives? Life is not just about Trump or DeSantis or other wannabe star power for 2024. What about pocketbook issues, ways to help create an economy that can support their kids' future families. Work towards formulating a practical platform that goes past anti-choice, anti-tax, anti-regulation... and anti-Biden. It's easy to be a naysayer.
What are the Republicans actually FOR any more when it comes to governance? Yeah yeah, I know, it's tempting to say "just less of it".... but I don't really buy that the majority of conservatives are that simplistic about it.
There may well be some kind of "silent majority" within the umbrella of Americans who'd call themselves conservative, but if so they sure do seem intimidated in the Trump era, even in areas where political violence has not erupted to make people fearful of discussing politics or platforms. Seems like it's either blatant pro-Trumpism or else a kind of glossing over that amounts to eye rolling, sighing, or brushing it all off with "geez, politics, such a mess"....