Why the fuck is America such a weird and wild country? Why the fuck would anyone promote a politician out of their own pocket in a "quirky" and "cutesy" or "relatable" way???
In the US politics is like sports or entertainment. I call it Team Democrat vs Team Republican. For example the average MSNBC viewer watches an insane amount of that crap every day. I think it's ~7 hours. The average viewer is also a retiree at ~70 years old. This is what they choose to do in their retirement. And - of course - the average Fox News viewer is the other side of that.
When an American uses a word like "sacred" in regards to voting - they are nearly certainly unaware of how insane that sounds to people from other countries and leftists in general. The fetishization and conflation of the flag, voting, the Constitution etc are American civil religion and American exceptionalism. Some Americans fly the flag 365 days a year. One of my neighbors has a flag out every day. I can see it through the window when I'm at my computer desk.
American exceptionalism is very weird to me. If we are so great - why don't we compare ourselves to other countries to prove it? But Americans want to live in their bubble. American exceptionalism is a tautology based on the fantastic level of wealth of our country and our military.
Political tribalism was added to the mix. There was some in the pre 9/11 but that event caused different insanity - war-brained insanity and political sectarianism was pushed aside for a while. Of course - it came roaring back when Obama was president and it carried through to today. So people will be proud of being an American and being a Democrat or Republican.
American civil religion is a sociological theory that a nonsectarian religious faith exists within the United States with sacred symbols drawn from national history. Scholars have portrayed it as a common set of values that foster social and cultural integration. The ritualistic elements of ceremonial deism found in American ceremonies and presidential invocations of God can be seen as expressions of the American civil religion.
The concept goes back to the 19th century, but the current form of this theory was developed by sociologist Robert Bellah in 1967 in the article, "Civil Religion in America". According to Bellah, Americans embrace a common civil religion with certain fundamental beliefs, values, holidays, and rituals in parallel to, or independent of, their chosen religion.
Bellah's article soon became the major focus at religious sociology conferences and numerous articles and books were written on the subject. Interest in the topic reached its peak with the American Bicentennial celebration in 1976.