The two parties are not the same. Policies on the right are generally unpopular, so they must pander to their base in order to win primaries. High maternal mortality and poverty? Prevent women from making their own reproductive decisions against the medical and scientific evidence. Food prices continue to increase? Make it more difficult for the poor to use assistance to feed themselves. Christianity on a steep decline? Force ONLY the Christian religion to be recognized in public schools. Firearms the leading cause of death among children and adolescents ages 1 to 19? More firearms, less regulation, more permit-less carry. Gay folks gained the right to marry and are now mainstream in society? Ban drag shows and support agencies that prevent gay couples from adopting. Black community increasing in power and international attention due to abuses by the government? Throw out as many books by black authors as you can and FINE TEACHERS for addressing anything close to black-centric topics. Religion sexually abusing children? Fight to keep it legal for religions to hide their crimes (and point the finger at drag queens). These are only popular with the GOP base and generally unpopular (often vehemently so) to the general public.

The only demographic the right has a majority in is older white males with no higher than a high school education. White female? Majority vote democrat. Educated white male? Majority vote democrat. Belong to any religion besides Christianity, or are not religions? Majority vote Democrat. Belong to any minority group based on ethnicity, sexual preference, disability, etc? Majority vote Democrat. The GOP has only won the popular vote ONCE in the past seven presidential elections. GOP senators represent 43 million FEWER people than Democratic senators and have not represented a majority since 1996. Consistently in GOP-led states, partisan (and racial) gerrymandering and legal maneuvering suppresses the votes of minorities and Democrats. Consistently, the GOP controls significantly more state legislature and federal House seats than the percentage of GOP voters in states led by the GOP. On the flip-side, Democrats are opting for nonpartisan panels to draw districts.

The right is increasingly seeking to hold power while not representing a majority by appealing to the most extreme segments of the right and promoting disinformation. A majority of GOP nominees in 2022 denied or questioned Trump's loss in 2020. GOP voters still vote for them because they have been misled by con men like George Santos or Ken Paxton in the era where Trump has normalized lies and disinformation. Politicians lying is not new. However, it is the only reason the GOP still has the political power it does. If the US was a functioning democratic republic, there would be far fewer in office because GOP policies are not at all popular. As it is, we have unpopular minority rule at both the state and federal levels.