This election is really unlike any other and I think it's important to appreciate the gravity of what's going on.
Campaign rhetoric has historically revolved around certain partisan issues like taxes, healthcare, abortion etc. We understood presidential elections as a friendly contest between two politicians who had different ways of getting to a similar vision for the future. Republican or Democrat, the main issues revolved around economic growth and security. Times might have felt difficult, but campaigns always offered a vision of hope first and foremost. That has changed big time.
According to the liberal narrative, Trump is running on a platform of permanent regime change. He wants to abuse the process and violate fragile norms to make sure his side can stay in power forever. This is the narrative that millions of Americans are being fed on a regular basis. The man representing himself as the president of this country has endorsed it himself. If you subscribe to this view, there's nothing off the table when it comes to dealing with Trump and his allies. Many if not most liberals are now convinced that we need to destroy democracy to save it. We need a permanent, unchangeable regime to prevent slipping into a permanent, unchangeable regime.
Democrats genuinely don't like Biden. There's an overwhelming feeling that he has been an ineffective, wholly inadequate leader for the times we find ourselves living in. Democrats are not happy with our economy or the state of this country. At all. They're just as upset with the cost of living. They're worried about their futures and their kid's futures. The state of our nation keeps them up at night too.
They support Biden out of fear. In their eyes, he's an incompetent placeholder there to keep a convicted felon and wannabe dictator out of office. Everyone wants change in this country, and Biden is at best an empty suit there to buy liberals time to come up with an actual vision for the country beyond the dreaded status quo.
I think Alito was right when he framed modern politics as an all or nothing affair. You can't have this country swing between Republicans and Democrats anymore, nor can you or should you expect the two sides to work together. One side will win. The system we have become accustomed to is now a battlefield for two sides trying to tear it down and build something new entirely.
Be honest: Do you genuinely believe this country is better off when Democrats have a chance at power every election cycle? Ask a liberal the opposite question and I doubt any of them will defend the current order if it means making room for Trump.
The American political scene has outgrown it's constitutional framing. The will of the people on all sides is now severely opposed to the existing regime and all it represents. Young people especially have an "unconstrained" view of politics and are open to ideas that go against what the founders intended. Like a young man looking to establish a life of his own, Americans now feel as though they've outgrown the constraints of their fathers. This is the situation we find ourselves in.
This is true, but misses the point. This election is unlike any other because it is we the people v the DS uniparty.