An important thing to understand about The Discourse is that all savvy political journalists/pundits believe that every time Republicans become bigger assholes, they win, and it's only admirable restraint that keeps them from taking the assholeness to 11 every time.
Democrats tend to believe this too - if we punch them, they'll punch back twice as hard! - and this explains their frequent reticence.
There certainly is a fan base for assholes in politics, but I don't think the bigger asshole wins every time.
