I'm not saying there are no intelligent people in the US or that people are not looking for something different from what exists. America has a large population and this is going to continue to allow for leadership to rise. The question is, who can rise up and become president? The Democrats had a number of excellent candidates but for one reason or another, they were judged to be either not popular enough or unable to continue raising money or - let's face it - not white male enough, even in a party that claims diversity as a virtue. The Republicans will have to support Donald Trump because he won once and they will not be able to raise any traction for anyone else. For whatever reason, incumbents have an edge on everyone else because they know that however different the public would like things to be, they will vote for the devil they know rather than the devil they don't know.
In a couple of centuries, I think America will be comparable to Italy. Italy was the centre of learning in the Renaissance and still has the highest national IQ of all European countries, if you believe the statistics. Italy is still a leader in fashion and cuisine and its products have a style that compares favourably to a lot of others. (Think Ferrari.) but on the world stage, it has not been all that important. And people will analyse why it toppled from its level of importance. And students in the 23rd century will still ask themselves, "If Americans were so aware of the defects in how they were governed, how did they let this happen?"
Understand, I would like to see the US not degenerate and not become a dystopia. But the direction it is heading in clearly leads in that direction.