God Bless Paul Davies and the @PhillyInquirer: "The only person who should withdraw from the race is Trump...There was only one person at the debate who does not deserve to be running for president. The sooner Trump exits the stage, the better off the country will be."
The tank and file are a tiny proportion of the nation. But this election is even worse. No one opposed Biden, and no serious candidate opposed Trump. It's like the system has broken.
My point is that the rank and file aren’t “elites” and there’s nothing stopping more people from getting involved other than Americans don’t seem to like politics. Biden ran unopposed because he’s an incumbent and no one else thought they could beat him. Repubs prefer Trump over the others.
I don’t think it’s so mysterious. They are both incumbents of a sort. Voters are capable of making the political calculation that it makes their party look weak and indecisive to change candidates. Also, I think you are underestimating Trump’s popularity among Repubs. They are quite happy with him.