Newt Gingrich began the Republican descent into the party of culture wars during the 90’s, and Trump completed the transformation. I’m sure there must be white, college-educated professional men who know that Trump is a lying con man, but they liked his pro-business, anti-tax policies. I bet they secretly admire Trump’s swagger and his “grab ’em by the crotch” boasting.
Neither of the political extremes are going to accept any movement towards the other side. Trump’s hardcore base of working class supporters think of politics as Wrestlemania. So Democrats could likewise play rough and continue to call them willfully ignorant deplorable suckers, but that won’t help. What’s the alternative? “There, there, we know you’re disappointed. We’ll show you where you went wrong,” would be condescending. Maybe with Trump on the way out there are enough Republican moderates willing to risk coming out of hiding to make a difference.