Back in the dawn of computers, the number of people using computers were very few. This handful knew all about computers. Some decades later, they were able to do miraculous things with computers, and around the late 1960's, they even sent a team to the moon, (something that quite a few people do not yet entirely believe).
Of course, by the time inexpensive Personal Computers were available---the mid 1980's---everybody just had to get in on computers, whether they had a clue as to how the things worked or not. By the time smart phones were freely available, even more people had to get one for themselves, though, as we know, smartphones are in fact computers, which connect with computers in some central locations, to enable us to make phone calls.
People, at this point, have become comfortable using gadgets---technology---which they never understood. There are many people who do not understand the workings of a vast pile of things: the government, smart phones, GPS, the school system, Colleges and Universities, jury trials, electric chairs, cataract surgery ... you name it. They don't understand how Congress and the Senate work, and so they gradually become deeply suspicious about the workings of the government. After all, we get to vote on the people who go to Washington, don't we? We pick the ones we like, and Boom! They go to Washington and enact laws which we don't like. How come? There is something suspicious going on.
Along comes a fellow, Trump, whom we know well, because he's on TV, firing his Apprentices, just like we want to fire these losers for whom we voted. So we send him to Washington, and sure 'nuff, he fires more people than almost anyone before him. We cheer him on, because these fellows whom Trump is firing are sure to be no-goodniks, and he must be firing them for a reason.
Trump also convinces everyone that the bad news everyone reads in the news, and which the TV newspeople tell us, are ALL LIES. This is easy to believe, because we don't understand how anything works anyway, and now we have a reason for it: it's all lies.
Halfway through his term, Trump began to realize that he himself didn't understand how a lot of government worked, either. He did understand that lobbyists come bringing gifts, and in return you have to pass laws that the lobbyists like. Beyond that, all of Trump's legendary intelligence boiled down to a few rules of thumb that he had managed to acquire, and this 'know-how' was basically about real estate, golf courses, hotels and casinos. There was a book published back in the last century called "Winning Through Intimidation", and it is entirely possible that Trump learned all he knows from this book, and the twisted advice his late father used to throw at him.
Trump was also quick to pick up on the fact that a lot of people were beginning to be uneasy about immigrants and minorities. Focusing on keeping migrants entirely out, by building an expensive wall along the southern border accomplished two things: the base that elected him (those who watched The Apprentice) loved it, and Trump was quickly able to point the finger at those who opposed the wall (the Democrats and others whom he named Libtards) as The Enemy.
Then the COVID pandemic arrived. This was entirely unplanned for. Dealing with it required Trump to have some intelligence and information and experience that he did not even remotely have, and neither did his advisers. Somehow, the Democrats stumbled into winning the election---it was by no means a sure thing. At least, the Democrats had experience dealing with epidemics and public health, and having won the election, set about earnestly dealing with the pandemic.
The rank and file of the GOP must be seriously baffled. A large number of them must now be aware that the central Brains of the party don't understand much of anything that is going on (least of all how to leave teenage girls alone). Many of the GOP state governors are having trouble dealing with the pandemic, and Trump's lies about voter fraud at the same time. A tiny bit of voter fraud is inevitable; there are known instances of people interfering with ballots, about half of them Republicans. (Trump keeps harping on his belief that thousands and thousands of ballots have been altered, or whatever. In fact, in every instance it seems that it is a dozen or fewer, and they have been caught every time.)
There's no going back to a world where we only use things that we completely understand; we have to use smart phones, we have to use ballot machines; many teachers, now, have to use zoom to teach their classes remotely. Overactive kids, whom teachers could quiet down in person, now have to be quieted down by their parents. In addition to not knowing how anything works, parents don't know how their children work, either. Teachers have had to become experts in dealing with kids, who did not want to settle down and learn lessons without a great deal of magic from their teachers. I believe that it was not inevitable that kids have become so difficult to manage, but then I'm probably in the minority. (Some would claim that kids are hard to manage because they are more intelligent! Sure. That's why they'll vote for Trump.)
To summarize: it is tough to keep going when the GOP seems to be determined to make politics into chaos so successfully. A century or so ago, there was an actual strategy among some conservatives to deliberately make politics chaotic, as a way of allowing big business to take over the government; I'm fairly sure that the majority of members of the GOP are not aware of that plan.
Short term, the Democrats will solve some of the most pressing problems that are facing the nation. People will either cheer, or sneer. Then the Republicans will come in, and claim that the Democrats ruined everything! Let's just be prepared.
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