I see in comments all the time in this forum and elsewhere, that people characterize the MAGAs as unintelligent, racist, lower income rubes, but that couldn't be further from the truth and minimizes what we're up against.

The average income level of those who voted for trump in 2016 was higher than the average level of those who voted for Hillary.

I know 2 men, one my boss for the past 15 years, and one a very good friend for the past 30 years. Both are life-long Republicans (I am a life-long Democrat). Both are intelligent, and have had successful careers in the computer technology field, one also being a CPA. I've never heard either utter a racist thought or word in all the time I've known them. Both enjoy a comfortable middle to upper-middle class lifestyle. Both live in nice houses and drive nice cars. Both have comfortably raised their families.

Yet both believe the 2020 election was stolen. Both believe trump was a good president who tried to make America great again. Both will vote for him again if given the opportunity. Both would have no use for people like Charlie Sykes, Bill Kristol and others like them, even though those are voices they once listened to years ago. Both believe all of the rhetoric about Democrats. Both would die before they would vote for one. And both miss the soaring value of their stock portfolios and 401K's.

Yes, there's a segment of the MAGAs that are extreme, are racist, are stupid, and are voting against their own self-interest. But this has gone mainstream and we better understand that, because it should shape how we fight it.

I have tried to talk sense to these two, but I've been unsuccessful. They don't accept that today's Republican party is dangerous. They fully believe that it's the Democratic party which is the real danger to our Republic and our democracy.

I don't have the answers, but let's start by acknowledging that the MAGA movement is far more insidious than a bunch of extreme, stupid, racist rubes.