Authoritarian personality is a state of mind or attitude characterized by belief in absolute obedience or submission to one’s own authority, as well as the administration of that belief through the oppression of one’s subordinates. It usually applies to individuals who are known or viewed as having an authoritative, strict, or oppressive personality towards subordinates.

Authoritarianism is characterized by highly concentrated and centralized power maintained by political repression and the exclusion of potential challengers. It uses political parties and mass organizations to mobilize people around the goals of the regime.^[5]Adam Przeworski has theorized that “authoritarian equilibrium rests mainly on lies, fear and economic prosperity”.^[6]

–Wikipedia

Okay, y’all. We’re two months into the process now, and the numbers are starting to roll in. Based on what I’m seeing so far, it’s time to start shopping for prime real estate across the border.

See, here’s the thing. I’ve been connecting these dots for a while now. First time, October 23, 2012, I was talking about Romney and his connections to Bain, shady dealings, and backroom politics. Second time, April 6, 2013, it was ALEC and the Tea Party, and how broken the system really was. Third time? November 21, 2015 and fascism.

I’ve been skirting the problem, but I didn’t have all the pieces.

Until tonight.

The following link is to a VERY long article that neatly sums up everything that’s wrong with today’s Republican party, from Trump’s loose cannon popularity to the dysfunction in congress and more.

Worse, it’s a damning illustration of why the current electorate may turn this country on its ear, come November, if Trump wins the nomination, because there’s a near zero chance he won’t have a Tea Party-backed VP to shepherd his moves and keep the conservatives who aren’t quite so enamored of Trump’s behavior in the party line.

The rise of American authoritarianism:

A niche group of political scientists may have uncovered what’s driving Donald Trump’s ascent. What they found has implications that go well beyond 2016.

In the interest of testing a theory, I set out tonight to do some calculations based on the numbers from this year’s primaries and caucuses. The results are cataloged in the spreadsheet below, and in the following table, if you don’t want to deal with the spreadsheet.

Primary and Caucus Statistics for 2016 Presidential Election (Spreadsheet in Google Sheets)

What it tells me is that either the Democrats are staying home from the primaries in droves, or something is very VERY wrong with the way the primaries are being handled this year.

As the process continues, I’ll keep updating the table below, as time permits (with my school schedule). The short form here is that Republicans are showing up to the polls with a nearly 2:1 ratio. Yes, we’re still early in the race, but with 15 states finalizing their votes in March and another eight finishing in April, on top of the 15 that have already completed their primaries or caucuses, this stuff’s going to be mostly decided before May.

I have friends expressing views that primaries aren’t truly representative of the actual electorate out there, because people will blow off primaries and still show up to the general election in November, but I’m low on faith that this will happen.

Based on the numbers, I think it’s statistically likely we’re going to have Trump in the White House, and that he will determine who will sit on the Supreme Court Bench come January, if the rest of the GOP don’t wake up and drop their obstructionism. Only I know they won’t do it. They’ll ensure that President Obama won’t get the chance to make a recess nomination because they won’t take a long enough recess to guarantee the ability to take advantage of an executive order.

Trump is a bully, a failed businessman who lucked into money and kept enough of it through four bankruptcies, three marriages, and a series of disastrous gambling investments. He may be a white supremacist, or just a fast talking con man. This…THIS is the man the Republican electorate wants to put in the highest office in our country.

If you thought the 2000 election was ugly, just wait. You ain’t seen nothin’ yet.

(NOTE: On the spreadsheet I have also detailed the Primaries for the Territories and the numbers above under Votes Cast includes those as well. The spreadsheet also contains 1992, 2000, and 2008’s figures AND the final counts for GOP and DEM in the 2008 General Election.)