I think most republicans aren’t as locked into their beliefs as we have been made to believe, tbh. If they can change their opinions to match that of their leader, they have a fairly pliable belief system. I feel they are more likely to realign themselves for a leader that they see as a populist is the thing. So even a populist on the other side of the aisle would sway many of the Right’s current followers, since they’d be making promises for getting things done and giving them a proverbial backpat about it.

I think the wind is already blowing for a changed Democratic Party, it’s a wind that’s been blowing since Bernie really, but the old guard Baby Boomers have been in power for quite a while now. Demographics have been slowly changing so that the Baby Boomers don’t make up as much of the majority of voters anymore, so more progressive stances can take root.

Changing Dems is about focusing electing politicians that mirror the values you have more than anything. Promoting a different voting system that enables these more progressive voices would go a long ways towards getting them in office as well.

Functionally, it’s not possible to ‘start over’ so it’s smart to work within the space that we do have and make real change where it is possible to do so. Convincing people to change their stances is hard work, and the way power is split in a country as big as the US complicates things even further. Educating newer generations about why changes matters is important, and educating them about logical things they can do to build a better system, which does put human rights for all as top priority, should be a top focus.