Donald Trump is running for president. Again. But his time has passed. Politics is a matter of alignment: the right person shows up at the right time. Trump got to that point in 2016, with outside help, of course, but six years later, America has changed. And he too.

He is no longer new, an outsider. What he says is not new either. He is a president who has been impeached twice, failed to win re-election, led his party to defeat in two midterm elections and one presidential election, and is drowning in an ocean of problems with the judiciary.

The stench of defeat clings to the candidate. That’s why Trump tried so hard to convince people that he didn’t lose. But he lost. And now Trumpism is also losing.

Conservatives in America are addicted to the adrenaline rush associated with their current rage-monger. They seem completely devoted to him until they replace him. They are addicted to consistent love.

In the 1990s, they fell in love with Newt Gingrich, then head over heels in The Tea Party, and then Sarah Palin. At the peak of their popularity, it was hard to imagine their fall. But it happened, and it probably will happen to Trump too.

In 1994, Gingrich introduced the “Contract with America”, a set of conservative policies and principles. In 1998, when he left parliament, his popularity was among the Tatars, and when he tried to run for president in 2012, he was called “the least popular politician in the country.” In 2010, the Tea Party movement was supported by 52% of Republicans. Five years later, it’s halved, and now it’s not even in the polls.

In the US, conservatives are addicted to the adrenaline rush they get when they cling to their rage.

In 2008, Republican presidential candidate John McCain forced the country to tolerate Sarah Palin by choosing her as his running mate. Palin was divisive, her speech was inflammatory, and her attitude to the truth somewhat distant. However, at first it was wanted by the Republicans. In 2010, Palin was the most popular candidate for the Republican Party nomination. Then her downfall was such that she lost her Congressional seat from a Republican in Alaska to a Democratic opponent that year.

Donald Trump is the latest sensation on the Republican base, but even that will pass. Seasons always change, roses always wither. Every time, conservatives convince themselves that their commitment is based on principles: sound financial management, border security, opposition to the liberal worldview. In fact, it is a constant rebellion against enlightenment and an open society.

Their enemy is change, growth and evolution.

Let’s face it, change and growth are not simple processes. There are detours that conservatives use to say, “Look, change is bad.” But the march cannot be stopped. They persist, captivated by the siren’s song, clinging to the representatives of regression, to those who say they can stop time and turn it back. Trump gave them what they wanted, but it can’t last. History must repeat itself, a new messenger is waiting to take over.

I am not suggesting that Trump has completely lost control of his party. But it is a fact that he has lost supporters and that charismatic conservative leaders always refuse.

Trump is not running because he has a vision for the country or a political agenda. He falls because he has no other options. He hopes that in this way he will be protected from justice and avenged. He is resigning because his family business has turned into political exploitation.