ROFL. "I don't want to bring political discussions into this wonderful forum but let me start with a broad sweeping generalization about half of the country's politics".
I disagree with your premise. Personally I don't care about politics yet enough to vote. If I had any opinions during the last election it was it that both candidates were crap.
That said just some observations on Donald Trump. People that know him know that he expects unrelenting loyalty and rules by the fear of what will happen to you if you cross him. It's clear from his speech that he starts with the conclusion he wants and then builds up the argument around it rather than gathering the facts and forming a conclusion. His opinions change often but this is not considered enough reason to doubt his credibility. He discredits the source of contradictory views rather than attacking thier arguments. He applies demeaning loaded labels to people and ideas he doesn't like. He weaves his own narrative of events and rejects facts that don't fit it as fake news.
I can't help but see parallels between this and the Watchtower organization. And while I have seen evidence of this behavior and many politicians the level and scope of it in the current administration is startling to me.
Now as to why some people swing toward the left? I disagree. I think most reasonable people are center and only slightly left or slightly right. When you get to the far left or far right both have dictatorial tendencies. I also think that this dual system create a false dichotomy.
You talk about being controlled, and ask why people would submit to a party that wants to control them? Here's my question. What if I don't think that women should be controlled as to what they want to do with their bodies, I don't think that corporations should be allowed to have control over destroying the environment that the citizens have to live in, I don't think that scientific research should be controlled and withheld, I don't think people should be controlled as to what substances they want to put into thier body, I don't think my right to bear arms should be infringed, I don't think my ability to retain more of my earnings should be taken from me as a form of government enforced charity, I don't think burdensome regulations should be imposed on me as a business owner? What party would you recommend for me? Some of those are left sentiments some of those are right sentiments. But we've created these two groups and if you belong in one group then you can't agree with anything from the other. It's ridiculous.
As a young person full of piss and vinegar I was offended at the idea of things like welfare. "Illegals" coming to take our jobs was another hot button for me that I nurtured an opinion in, even though we aren't supposed too.
I have worked my butt off to get to where I am and the idea that people would just sit on the dole pisses me off still. But a friend of mine lost his job due to mental illness then lost his marriage and I took him in for a year. Really help me change my perspective on how fucked up some people's lives can be due to no fault of their own. Nobody just decides to get bipolar become suicidal and lose the ability to function. I also served in the Russian congregation for a while and really got to understand how messed up our immigration system is as well as gain a perspective of how lucky I was to be born in the United States. I didn't do shit to become a United States citizen and yet here I am basking in the opportunities that have been handed me by reason of birth and wanting to deny those to others.
So if anything is change in my opinion it's that I now feel incredibly lucky. Don't get me wrong I still worked my ass off to get where I am but also was lucky. And now their are names and faces to those immigrants and welfare recipients where as before they were just anonymous enemies. Hell, looking back I even remembered a year when my Dad was unemployed and we were on Wick support. So would say I went from harder right to slightly left of center while still a JW. And yet I am a business owner who likes to hunt. If I do decide to vote, Democrat views more closely align with who I am today, but I would still vote for a Republican if he's more reasonable and than the Democrat he runs against. I definitely wouldn't put an asshole in office just because he is my guy.