2008 did cause almost irreparable damage to my faith in the wisdom of the voter.
I feel your pain and I am not being sarcastic but I’m not ready to give up yet.
The problem is that the typical voter is either dimwitted or consumed by his own self interest. There are precious few individuals around who are concerned about our grandchildren as taxpayers, or, more importantly, the nation that has been the last, best hope of freedom. The world is vaguely free ONLY because America exists. People around here think about it, but not the average voter. The dark age after Rome lasted half a millennium. I have no reason to think that the dark age after America will be any shorter.