The whole Roy Moore thing in a way really highlights in my mind how committed the Republicans are to sucking up to the very, very wealthy base. I've been referring to them for a long time as the owners of the Republican Party, but they're also the ones that keep the Republican Party in power. They're also the supporters of the Republican Party.

The real constituency for the Republican Party, as EJ Dionne writes in the Washington Post, the headline "Trump's real constituency isn't the white working class at all."

And then he says:

"His rise depended on support from rich conservatives."

And it did - particularly Robert Mercer and his daughter Rebecca and their company Cambridge Analytica and other billionaires...

"And his program serves the interests of those who have accumulated enormous wealth.

This explains why so few congressional Republicans denounce him, no matter how close he edges toward autocracy... panders to Vladimir Putin."

Sucks up to Duterte, loves Erdogan, you know, strongmen around the world.

"The GOP leadership knows Trump is tilting our economy toward people just like him."

And these are the people, of course, the billionaire class that Trump understands. Trump was born into this world that Trump wants to support. Trump has been part of this all his life and frankly, Trump himself gets a mind-boggling benefit from this thing.

-Thom


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