I think the issue is two-fold. (1) American elites are so convinced that the country is permanent & permanently preeminent that politics is perceived of as just a game to be played. (2) American elites are actually fairly contemptuous of non-elites. https://twitter.com/michelledean/status/1348324105028726785

The first factor means that people don’t adequately appreciate the fragility of even the strongest nations (in contrast with the Framers who were obsessed with things falling apart.)

The second means that people lean into the basest politics because that’s what they think of their base voters.

It’s completely cynical but what matters is power.

I will say both factors also affect elites on the left, especially the first. My experience is that American elites of both parties have a hard time accepting that the country is not a guaranteed thing.

That’s because the whole of elite education stresses the extraordinariness of our country, its unique role in the world, etc.

And without fear that things may go completely away, your approach to governing changes.

Elites of the left also can be very blind on class issues. Elites on the left are often far more comfortable talking about race than they are about class.