Red-Blue America: Why are Republicans so angry?

The Republican National Convention hit Ohio last week, with Donald Trump officially taking his place as the party’s  nominee for president. One notable characteristic of the gathering: Anger.New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie helped lead cheers of “Lock her up!” in a speech describing the supposed crimes of Hillary Clinton, the presumptive Democratic nominee. And Tuesday night - supposedly devoted to the economy - was instead devoted to a line of speakers listing non-economic grievances against Clinton.Are Republicans particularly angry? Why? It makes you wish for the good old days of George W. Bush You know who I miss? George W. Bush.
Yeah, that’s kind of crazy. Bush - I’ve argued - was probably the worst president in living memory. He started a disastrous, unnecessary war in Iraq. He authorized torture. He led the nation when the economy collapsed into the Great Recession. He ran a 2004 campaign based on denying gay Americans the right to marriage. And he probably could’ve been a bit more proactive in preventing the attacks of 9/11.Bush was just a disaster. But he’s still preferable to what we’ve seen on stage at the Republican National Convention this week.Bush, for all his many faults, seemed to possess a bit of human decency that’s pretty much missing from the GOP’s incarnation under Trump. Bush, after all, tried to figure out a way to resolve the immigration issue sensibly - knowing that any realistic solution won’t involve the deportation of millions of migrants living here already. Bush, after all, tried to expand the GOP appeal beyond its base of old white people, appealing to Hispanics and openly breaking with the racist “Southern strategy” used by earlier generations of Republican politicians. Bush, after all, was the force behind U.S. aid to Africa to help stem the tide of AIDS there.The GOP under Trump, though, doesn’t much like immigrants. It has open antipathy toward the Black Lives Matter movement. And where the conventions under Bush seemed to be of the “happy warrior” stripe - remember Arnold Schwarzenegger’s 2004 appearance in New York? - this convention has been sour and cranky.This is no surprise. Republican voters have been primed for decades by Fox News, Rush Limbaugh and websites like Breitbart, all of which are mad as hell and not taking it anymore, good times or bad. Trump is the perfect candidate for such voters. Given his general ideological incoherence - his position on key issues is often slippery at best - it’s natural to assume that anger is pretty much the main feature unifying what’s left of the Republican Party these days.It’s enough to make you miss Bush. Joel Mathis (joelmmathis@gmail.com) is associate editor for Philadelphia Magazine.  The Republican National Convention hit Ohio last week, with Donald Trump officially taking his place as the party’s  nominee for president. One notable characteristic of the gathering: Anger.New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie helped lead cheers of “Lock her up!” in a speech describing the supposed crimes of Hillary Clinton, the presumptive Democratic nominee. And Tuesday night - supposedly devoted to the economy - was instead devoted to a line of speakers listing non-economic grievances against Clinton.Are Republicans particularly angry? Why?It makes you wish for the good old days of George W. BushYou know who I miss? George W. Bush.
Yeah, that’s kind of crazy. Bush - I’ve argued - was probably the worst president in living memory. He started a disastrous, unnecessary war in Iraq. He authorized torture. He led the nation when the economy collapsed into the Great Recession. He ran a 2004 campaign based on denying gay Americans the right to marriage. And he probably could’ve been a bit more proactive in preventing the attacks of 9/11.Bush was just a disaster. But he’s still preferable to what we’ve seen on stage at the Republican National Convention this week.Bush, for all his many faults, seemed to possess a bit of human decency that’s pretty much missing from the GOP’s incarnation under Trump. Bush, after all, tried to figure out a way to resolve the immigration issue sensibly - knowing that any realistic solution won’t involve the deportation of millions of migrants living here already. Bush, after all, tried to expand the GOP appeal beyond its base of old white people, appealing to Hispanics and openly breaking with the racist “Southern strategy” used by earlier generations of Republican politicians. Bush, after all, was the force behind U.S. aid to Africa to help stem the tide of AIDS there.The GOP under Trump, though, doesn’t much like immigrants. It has open antipathy toward the Black Lives Matter movement. And where the conventions under Bush seemed to be of the “happy warrior” stripe - remember Arnold Schwarzenegger’s 2004 appearance in New York? - this convention has been sour and cranky.This is no surprise. Republican voters have been primed for decades by Fox News, Rush Limbaugh and websites like Breitbart, all of which are mad as hell and not taking it anymore, good times or bad. Trump is the perfect candidate for such voters. Given his general ideological incoherence - his position on key issues is often slippery at best - it’s natural to assume that anger is pretty much the main feature unifying what’s left of the Republican Party these days.It’s enough to make you miss Bush.Joel Mathis (joelmmathis@gmail.com) is associate editor for Philadelphia Magazine.