I thought this quote from H L Mencken on the natural course of democracy was very apt for what has been happening to the US for the past few election cycles.

The larger the mob, the harder the test. In small areas, before
small electorates, a first-rate man occasionally fights his
way through, carrying even the mob with him by force of his
personality. But when the field is nationwide, and the fight must be waged chiefly at second and third hand, and the force of personality
cannot so readily make itself felt, then all the odds are on
the man who is, intrinsically, the most devious and mediocre — the man
who can most easily adeptly disperse the notion that his
mind is a virtual vacuum.
The Presidency tends, year by year, to go to such men. As democracy is perfected, the office represents, more and more
closely, the inner soul of the people. We move toward a lofty ideal. On some great and glorious day the plain folks of the land
will reach their heart's desire at last, and the White House will be adorned by a downright moron.