What happened to the GOP and conservatism since I left Alabama

One of the reasons I was excited to move back to Huntsville is that I thought being in a red city in a red state would help me understand what’s happened to the GOP and conservatism since I left Alabama for coastal cities (D.C. and then San Francisco) a decade before.

The good news is that I have stumbled upon an explanation. The bad news is that it’s far more based on books, articles, and podcasts than from talking to people here.