Talk to a lot of Republican voters, and you'll hear them describing Obama using amazing language. They tell me--who they know as a Democrat--that he's a Fascist, a Communist. Literally. They'll tell me how much they dislike him personally. Since by any rational standards he has governed as a moderate, pragmatic center-left Democrat, it's hard to understand them talking about him as if he were Hugo Chavez.
Here's one possible explanation--though they'll never admit it (often not even to themselves):
1 comment:
Ehkzu-
It's very sad, & i don't want to believe it either, but you could be right here.
Obama has certainly governed as a centrist Democrat, & it's difficult to see how the effects of his policies have been any further "leftward" than any other Democratic President since 1900. Given the politically "rightward" movement in the entire country over the past 30-40 years, the policies of several Republican Presidents, including Ike, Nixon & Ford, could be considered further "leftward" than Obama's (more progressive taxation, fiscal & even environmental policies, wage & price controls, etc, etc, etc).
Were Obama's current critics so vocal about how much they despised these other Presidents? Obviously not. How much does race figure into their hatred? Unfortunately, it's difficult to imagine that it's NOT a factor.
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