He couldn’t possibly actually have liked some of the ideas himself, without being associated with the project (or whatever)?

Hell of a coincidence. When an influential think tank puts out a guidebook for what their party’s nominee should do after winning the presidency, and then that person puts a bunch of the people involved in his administration and starts carrying it out, I’m not inclined to think this is all by chance.

A lot of accepting what's going on requires us to ignore the broader context of current events, and all of American history, as well as the history of democracies including those who have fallen to an authoritarian dictator.