She got half of Burgerland to think that everything they don't like is Russian propaganda, that the evil Russians helped Trump steal the 2016 election, Russia Russia Russia, it's the ultimate thought-terminating cliche now. And even in the face of cold, hard evidence to the contrary (ie: Mueller report, off the top of my head) Libs just stomp their feet and insist that it's still RUSSIAAAAA!!!!!1
I guess Bill O'Riely would be the Republican equivalent of her, but his oafishness and toxic masculinity got the best of him and he ~~ended up losing everything~~ got a multi-million dollar severance package from Fox News and then faded into irrelevancy.
Seriously though, I can't think of anybody that could rival Maddow in terms of how effectively she brainwashed tens of millions of Burgerlanders into believing an absolute, absurd fantasy. You can't have anything that resembles a level-headed discussion with any Lib anymore, largely due to her influence (and others of course, but I feel like she's the most prominent figure in this regard).
Can you think of anyone that could rival her impact? Who else would be in the same league of propagandists in this day?
EDIT: Obviously I forgot to mention Tucker Carlson, but he also got kicked off Fox lol
The ride or die Dems make sense because it's the last thing holding their entire world view back from collapsing. Republicans are overtly evil so they're not an option. Third parties have no real chance of elections or social change. There are no mainstream activist groups that have social capital or numbers for change (like the civil rights movements).
So the Dems are all you have left to believe in the system. If you admit to yourself Dems are coconspirators in all the bad things about America, then you have no real reason to think America is a force for good. So for the majority of liberals the cognitive dissonance is an easier pill to swallow than saying "Are we the baddies?" Not to mention there is an infinite amount of media for you to consume that reinforces that dissonance so you don't have to think about it.