Eric Wilson, a Republican digital strategist, noted that if any given politician’s rhetoric is sufficiently magnetic or inflammatory, “it’s now easy to assemble a tribe — a critical mass of people — without the restrictions of geography.”
In an increasingly online and decentralized world, the apparatus of party machines — the very thing that once gave political bosses their leverage — has become much less salient, Wilson added.
“You no longer need the support or functions of a big party headquarters. You are starting to see how individual politicians can be a party unto themselves.”