THE HIGH COST OF PARTISAN HYSTERIA (profanity alert):

Since last year, the most influential political talk show host in Wisconsin has found out just how hard it is to be a #NeverTrump conservative on right-wing radio. Ever since Sykes began denouncing Donald Trump on the air--which he does just about every time he talks about the presidential election--he's strained his relationships with the listeners of his daily radio show.

Sykes' many arguments with listeners over Donald Trump's serial outrages have exposed in much of his audience a vein of thinking--racist, anti-constitutional, maybe even fascistic--that has shaken Sykes. It has left him questioning whether he and his colleagues in the conservative media played a role in paving the way for Trump's surprising and unprecedented rise.

A few days before the Wisconsin congressional primary in early August, Sykes seized on remarks by Speaker of the House Paul Ryan's opponent, Paul Nehlen, that raised the idea of deporting all Muslims, even American citizens. It's the kind of inflammatory rhetoric that has become the norm during a presidential cycle that has featured Trump's calls for immigration bans on Muslims, loyalty tests and mass deportations. A friendly and round-faced guy with glasses, Sykes, 61, doesn't even try to conceal his disgust, but a large segment of his listeners, like Audrey from Oshkosh, are eager to defend ideas that Sykes believes violate fundamental conservative principles.

"Yeah! Let me make a comparison, and I don't mean this in a bad way," Audrey says. "They're talking about phasing out breeding of pit bulls. Well, not all pit bulls are bad."

"You're comparing American citizens, Muslims, to rabid dogs," Sykes responds.

"No, I'm saying, they're talking about phasing out the breed because so many are bad. No one wants to phase out poodles! I mean, there's no Lutherans doing this! We never know when one of these people are going to be radicalized."

"One of these people," says Sykes.

Sykes ends the call. He's silent, broadcasting dead air. He looks upset, like he's stopped breathing. He goes to a commercial break.

"OK, that doesn't happen very often," he says off-air. "I'm not usually absolutely speechless." He says his listeners never talked like this until recently.

"Were these people that we actually thought were our allies?" he asks.

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