The January 6 Capitol riot was a fitting end to the Donald Trump presidency — dangerous and absurd in equal measure. But as Democrat-led congressional hearings into the 6th drag on and Republican candidates, judges, and grassroots activists prepare to ensure that the Republican Party is declared the winner of the next presidential race regardless of the results, it looks more and more as if the attempted insurrection also marked the beginning of a new and dangerous era.

A New York Times headline from last week gets straight to the point: “Voters See Democracy in Peril, but Saving It Isn’t a Priority.” It refers to a poll the Times conducted showing that 71 percent of Americans think democracy is at risk, while only 7 percent name those risks as the country’s most pressing problem.

In one sense, these numbers simply reflect the country’s long-standing political divide. Sustainable American democracy is objectively in more danger now than it was before the events of January 6, but a major part of Trump’s and the Republicans’ strategy to hold on to power was to convince their followers that Joe Biden was elected illegitimately, probably through some sort of conspiracy. So that 71 percent includes many respondents mortified by the storming of the Capitol, but also many who supported it. Both would say democracy is in peril, albeit for very different reasons.