No modern politician had tapped into the whole anti-elite, anti-intellectual, eternal grievance, the media's out to get you, post-truth.. fuck decorum, say exactly what you're thinking, thing quite like her.

when mccain lost, and everyone acted like she was a huge mistake, and republicans were talking about 'autopsy' and how they could make the party more inclusive... Trump saw the opposite. that she's where the energy of the party was and leaned into it.

it's hard to 'blame' mccain, because there were so many factors that led to Trump winning when he was never supposed to, but she was def the template.