Hatred is the only issue that GOP presidential candidates have

[Cyrano]

Look at the current crop of declared and undeclared Republican candidates for president. What are they running on? Their reasons for running seem to be hatred of Obama and everything he’s ever said or done. Now they’ve switched their focus to Hillary Clinton and there too, all they have to offer is hatred.

When Republican candidates talk about what they’d actually do if elected, they speak of lower taxes for the haves, and cutting Medicare, Medicaid, Obamacare, food stamps and Social Security for everyone else – more hatred aimed at the middle class and the poor.

When did hatred become an acceptable trait?

Can anyone tell me why anyone but the rich would ever vote for a Republican?

[DURHAM D]

1. When?

The campaign and election of Ronald Reagan.

That is when the middle class bought into the idea that it was not the rich keeping them down but the poor.

Watched it with my very own eyes. The night that RR was elected is the only time I have ever cried at the results of a national election. We have been going backwards (with moments of slowed retreat) every since.

[Orsino]

2. An awful lot of people are willing to be kicked...

...as long as they get to kick someone else, too. We are social animals who evolved to respect hierarchies, and that means we love stoning the fornicator, hanging the witch, and shunning the heretic. Finding someone to pick on makes us feel more secure in our place in the herd, and more content with our shitty little lots in life.

Politicians who harness that energy will always be able to swindle enough of us to get by, or even thrive, and it beats working for a living.

[pampango]

3. Fear and hate have been republican campaign staples for a long time.

Once you give up on using logic, science and history to formulate your policies, fear and emotion are all you have to motivate your base.