I, for one, was not at all surprised by the rise of Trump or his successful run in the Republican primary. It was entirely predictable based on the composition of the Republican Party, particularly the portion reverently referred to as “the Base”. The Base for whom Republican candidates have had to tack to the right for during their primaries only to then immediately pivot toward the center after securing the nomination. This political maneuver has been a reliable as clockwork for decades. It has been the accepted practice of the entirety of the Republican Party, and it has been openly acknowledged and discussed by every political observer without there ever being a public discussion on why this was the case.

But everybody did know why, but nobody was willing to say so publicly. Reporters would make references to ‘red meat’ and ‘dog whistles’ and ‘wedge issues’ directed to the Base, and while some might concede that these dog whistles were racist or discriminatory, their reporting always stopped short of investigating who, and how many, these remarks were intended to reassure, and why those making them were confident in doing so.

From the earliest days of Rush Limbaugh it was obvious that there was a ready market of listeners to hear things said publicly that, while believed and felt by millions, were considered too taboo for public consumption as they would usually subject the speaker to some enforcement by social norms of the day. The strength of the market for this thinly veiled racism and hate, though, was strong enough that radio stations could not help themselves, as they willingly chose to market hate for the ratings and money it delivered. Father Coughlan was risen.

Since the early days, the growth and spread in the marketplace of those willing to spew hate and lies, and those wanting to hear and read it, has turned out to be demonstrably immense, tens of millions of people. Almost from the beginning, and certainly throughout its growth, the regular racist insinuations and statements, when they did get criticized, were given a pass by being characterized as ‘not the intent’, ‘poor choice of words’, or ‘spoken for entertainment and not meant to be taken as true’. Racism and hate were being normalized every day on hate radio and on Fox News.

Those who have been taken off-guard by Trump’s winning of the nomination are either oblivious of size of the Republican Base that has been feasting on all that red meat, or they are stupid or lying.

The truth is this billion dollar market for hate and misinformation was not entirely organic. It was created for a single purpose: the electoral success of the Republican Party.

In addition to the racist staples from the Nixon and Reagan campaigns, the Republican Party and their media outlets added additional ‘otherisms’ to their litany of people and programs to be despised: liberals, Democrats specifically. Millions of hours of radio and TV time telling their listeners how much the Democrats hated them, telling them all of the reasons for the nation’s problems were the result of liberal Democrats, and telling them how much Democrats hated families, God, Country, and the American way. Hate was also heaped on gays, feminists, Latino’s and other minorities, teachers, unions, Muslims, and any other individuals, groups or organization perceived to be supportive of Democrats. Conspiracies, fabrications and outright lies were used to underpin and justify their listener’s belief in what they were selling. And their listeners were instructed not to believe what anyone else told them.

The product of these efforts of the Republican Party is the Base that they have created. The so-called Tea Party movement was the Base’s debutant ball. Its members were branded as salt-of-the earth real Americans, and the numbers of media and cameras at their gatherings consistently outnumber the actual Tea Partiers. The media loved them, loved the story line, and never bother to look into what were the actual beliefs binding these folks together, nor did they discuss the obvious ignorance that on display in virtually any comments made by this group. The right’s creation of this fake populist movement went virtually unreported by mainstream news outlets, and the group and its branding served the Republican Party well.

And then the Base began to feel their oats.

Republican candidates ran on Tea Party platforms, but unlike previous Republican primaries, Tea Party candidates did not pivot back to the center after gaining their primary victories. Then they began running against incumbent Republicans, and winning. They won general elections in districts rigged for sure Republican success, as well as knocked off some Democrats. They went to Washington and put their full ignorance, contempt and intransience on display for the country. The result of this was that the Republican Party moved further to the right, further toward being openly racist and discriminatory, and being even more stupid. The Base was unsatisfied with Romney as the nominee in 2012 as he was not sufficiently open about the views animating the Base. The Base vowed to do better in 2016.

Hence Trump.

In Trump, the Base found their true reflection. A racist, anti-immigrant authoritarian with a f*ck you attitude to anyone who got in his way. An in your face role model for a lifestyle they admired, whose spouting of ignorance reflected beliefs and opinions already held by the Base.

The “battle” within the Republican Party that has erupted with Trump’s campaign performance has led to much soul searching among Republican leaders and countless media pundits all trying to discern how the Republican Party came to this point. But no soul searching is actually needed. The so-called battle lines are actually this: those Republicans who prefer the racists and misogynists and such to keep their true beliefs privately or within the Party, pitted against those Base Republicans now comfortable wearing their hate and ignorance on their sleeves. Lost in all the discussion of this battle is the fact that a sizable portion of the population of this country harbor racist, misogynistic, xenophobic, authoritarian and discriminatory beliefs. That is not changing regardless of which Republican is on the ballot.

These Base Republicans, this basket of deplorables, value purity to their ideological and prejudicial mindsets above all else. While they may be a mixed bag of otherwise regular folks, this Base is united in a hatred of being led by those not like themselves, including even other Republicans.

The Republican Base is not going away. They are the real monster created by the Republican Party, not Trump. The Base is proving it wields the real power in the Republican Party. Those establishment Republicans, which is to say those who prefer their prejudices and hate stay among friends, will, like Dr. Frankenstein, find that they have no control of the monster they have created. While in the movie both Dr. Frankenstein and his monster ended up dead, this country won’t be so lucky with the Republican Party and their Base.