I'm a dummy, but my guess on the next election is...
Whoever the Democratic nominee is, they'll have to thread the needle very carefully to get enough votes to win. There are a couple issues that will force their hand:
1 - Slavery reparations
2 - The Homelessness/Opioid crisis
3 - Portland-style political violence
I think that if the Democratic candidate that pledges their allegiance to "intersectional" politics they will cause moderates to break for the Republicans. I think a lot of people who vote are homeowners or aspire to own homes, generally want to live in peace with their families, don't want to see shit and needles all over their sidewalks and parks, and are tired of hearing that they're racists. A lot of noisy people on social media and outfits like the NY Times think that far-left politics have much more popular support than they actually do.
There will probably be one or two large, unpredictable events (similar to Hurricane Katrina or the Comey Investigation) which will shift the contours of the race, but I don't see any of the favored Democratic nominees doing a good job in the general election. But hell, who knows!
On the contrary, I think that's about as astute observation of the general populace as anyone can offer. But as you pointed out, after the election of DJT, "WHO KNOWS?" is really the new standard in electoral politics. And that's coming from a very seasoned political hack.
What I do know for sure is that the Democratic leadership--namely, Nancy Pelosi--has been bending over backwards trying to navigate peacefully between the moderate majority of the party, most of whom are quiet and professional, and the radical wing that has emerged over the last few years, most of whom are batshit fucking crazy and have no idea what the fuck they're doing but make the most noise and now get the spotlight from the major news networks. And this week, that far-left faction probably delivered DJT his second term in the form of those four fucking morons calling themselves "The Squad." Four women who:
1) Are basically communists.
2) Advocate for such brilliant concepts as a 90% tax on the wealthy, free EVERYTHING for EVERYONE (who isn't white), no more borders or border security and reparations for everyone a shade darker than scratch paper.
3) Want the government to control EVERYTHING.
4) Support terrorism, whether that be domestic (ANTIFA) or abroad (Ilhan Omar has expressed support for Al Qaida and ISIS).
5) Hate America.
As a perfect example of how DJT has come out on top ahead of his re-election, in the same 48 hour span, the House voted to both 1) officially say Trump's stupid tweets were naughty and yet 2) the overwhelming majority of Democrats joined with Republicans to shut down the bullshit impeachment movement against him. So sorry, Squad...your stunt amounted to exactly jack fucking shit.
The main issue, as I see it, is that DJT created a new paradigm and standard by which political dialogue progresses: he's turned our political process into reality TV, where whoever can snatch the spotlight wins. The problem is, DJT, like him or not, is a brilliant master showman and a ruthless, cunning manipulator of the media. These idiot fucking kids like "The Squad" know how to scream and whine and wail but have zero experience with manipulating headlines or most anything else in general.
If you want to blame anyone for the current state of politics, you blame two people: Donald J. Trump, for turning the electorate into another episode of The Apprentice, and Bernie Sanders, for making communism nuevo chic and socially acceptable. And you blame the both of them for inspiring the average, low IQ inbred idiot into believing that ANYONE can run for office against all odds and somehow win. Believe me, I have to deal with the fallout from that new phenomenon every...fucking...day...NO JOKE.