I do not know how we got here. Intensely partisan politics, placing the good of the party ahead of the good of the nation is certainly part of it. A true statesman-leader would have great difficulty surviving that milieu. The smear politics of incessant mud-slinging (see what sticks) and personal attacks is part of it -- who wants to subject themselves and their families to such a thing???
I do deeply feel that America is rapidly in decline, and that the hand of the blessing of God has been withdrawn.