But no one calls it crazy.

Drum:

In the modern Republican Party, tax policy isn't really about tax policy anymore. It's mostly just meant to be evocative, a demonstration that you're really, truly part of the family. So the crazier it is, the better. Nobody — least of all Republican voters — seriously expects any of these proposals to become law.

This is absolutely true. The real problem, however, is that no one in the media (or Democratic leaders, for that matter) acknowledges that this is all make believe craziness. These proposals are treated seriously and given careful consideration and analysis.

Imagine an alternate universe where Democrats running for president unveiled competing plans to, say,  raise taxes on the wealthiest Americans to 90%, create single-payer health care and nationalize the oil industry.

They would be mocked endlessly and derided as unelectable extremists.