Tech Alignment Breaks Populist Succession

When a populist movement or leader openly aligns with high‑tech capital — championing projects, preempting local control, and appointing industry czars — that alliance can alienate both the movement’s base and swing voters, undermining the leader’s ability to build a durable political successor. The article shows this dynamic by linking Trump’s promotion of a half‑trillion data‑center project, executive preemption of state AI rules, and billionaire appointments to the GOP’s post‑midterm collapse. — If true, parties that trade populist rhetoric for elite tech deals risk accelerating their decline and reshaping attention to regulation, permitting, and political realignment.