Current Events > Did Trump make politics about the negatives?

(+) Yeah! (+)

I don't remember Romney running on 'this country is a giant turd we should flush', or McCain, or Bush, or Dole.

Trump feels like the first person to basically run their campaign on fears rather than what America could be. Yes you have the Willie Horton ad in the late 80's, but that just stoked racism, not that America is a dump that needs to be bulldozed.

Right out of the Facist handbook.

Ive never heard him say a single positive thing about anything other than himself and how great he is. I dont know how people worship that shit. Its so transparent

negativity sells and creates more engagement as shown with social media and 24/7 news channels. i think trump just used this to his benefit with his campaign, but he's always been sort of a negative person even before the whole birther thing.

Republicans have been ramping up the fear mongering tactics since 1980 but then around 2008 with the McCain/Obama election and the introduction of Sarah Palin they really amped up the white nationalist populism... Trump was just like a more purified form of white nationalist fear mongering.

Make no mistake, this was also aided by the increasingly radical, billionaire funded right wing media megaplex going from Limbaugh and AM Radio in the 1980s, to Fox News and Alex Jones in the 90s, to internet shows like The Daily Wire and Prager U in the 2000s.

A lot of Trumps audience are bitter, dumb boomers who hate how things are now and lack self awareness. In their eyes this country sucks now because of whatever it is they choose as a scapegoat. I

LearntoRead posted...

A lot of Trumps audience are bitter, dumb boomers who hate how things are now and lack self awareness. In their eyes this country sucks now because of whatever it is they choose as a scapegoat. I

Let's not forget a lot of those boomers are indoctrinated into the 24/7 right wing media and conspiracy bubble.

Fear mongering is one thing, the party is clearly full of racist shits, but I'm kinda mind boggled how no republican before him ran on this place being utter dog shit and it somehow working for Trump.

The only rule was you run on improving, not tearing down.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Southern_strategy

They've never stopped. It became bipartisan in the 90s to fearmonger about so called "super predators".

CHM_Punk posted...

Mitt Romney marched with Black Lives Matter, came out in support of Universal Basic Income, voted to convict Donald Trump, and voted to uphold marriage equality for the LGBT community. Across the United States your middle-of-the-road voters have awkwardly regretted not voting for the man when he ran for President back in 2012 ever since.

The guy was anti-Obamacare when it's based on Romneycare. I don't think he's honest about anything with hypocrisy like that.

ClayGuida posted...

The only rule was you run on improving, not tearing down.

A lot of those rules were becoming outdated in the 80s and 90s, and party politics slowly became more about a series of wedge issues like abortion and immigration.

With Donald Trump, it become a complete transformation for the GOP as the facade of being "economic conservatives" or "libertarians" was destroyed once and for all, and the entire party focused on "culture war" - the purified fascist crack form of "traditional values".

CHM_Punk posted...

He was also pro-choice, pro-LGBT, and pro-affirmative action, until he flopped on all of those things to appeal to evangelicals. My last post was not a defense of Mitt Romney, but to highlight how an opportunist like him showed more spine than so called constitutional conservatives like Mike Lee and Ted Cruz or the most libertarian Senator Rand Paul that have repeatedly made twenty million defenses for the most authoritarian President in recent memory.

Opportunism is the opposite of spine. He's rich either way so he want to be those bullshit "good" Republicans like George W. Bush and Colin Powell that get shitty fluff pieces when they die.

I seem to remember Biden giving a speech in philly where he was basically demonizing half the population, so both sides are guilty of doing this

American political campaigns focused on shit-throwing long before Trump, he just took it to the next level.

Going negative isnt new but not even bothering to release an agenda in 2020 was certainly new. Candidates in the past at least tried a mix.

B18Champ posted...

I seem to remember Biden giving a speech in philly where he was basically demonizing half the population, so both sides are guilty of doing this

Oh yea, I'm sure. Let me guess, it went something like this:

Republicans - Gay and trans people are an abomination that should be purged from society, Mexicans are thieves, rapists, and murderers, black people are nothing but thugs and welfare queens, Muslims should be fully banned from the country and we should attack any country where Muslims exist, women should know their place and be subserviant, and anybody who isn't a rich, white, christian male shouldn't matter. If you're too poor to afford food, starve to death. IF you aren't ready for a baby, then "fuck you slut, shouldn't have fucked a million dudes, you baby murdering whore. You have to keep it!". All hail the Confederacy, and Hitler did nothing wrong!

Biden - Wow, you're kind of a piece of shit, huh?

You - SuCH HaTREd Form BoTH SIdES!!!!!! (TM), Can'T eveN TelL Them Apart! BasiCaly ThEE Same PerSonn!!

CHM_Punk posted...

If you want to just be a hack take it Twitter and argue with some Baby Boomer. You lose your mind in any topic when someone gives credit when it is due to anyone that does entirely line with your world view.

Do you disagree that opportunism is the opposite of a spine? I'm perfectly fine leaving things at agree to disagree. You're the one losing your mind with ad-homs in a simple discussion.

B18Champ posted...

I seem to remember Biden giving a speech in philly where he was basically demonizing half the population, so both sides are guilty of doing this

DID he "basically demonize half the population" or is this the standard right wing bullshit of where someone calls out very obvious and real extremism and right wingers guffaw over how they are saying it's ALL republicans and they are half of the population despite neither of those being true.

I'm going to hold my breath on this one, because surely it's not that exact same scenario again for the 6230947234th time.

Anywho, no, Donnie didn't make politics negative. Like most things with him, he wasn't the cause but simply the result of what the right has been pushing toward.

both sides are guilty of doing this

One side: actively pushes to legislate away the rights of entire groups, calls their opponents blood drinking pedophiles, and tried to overthrow the most recent presidential election.

The other side: calls the first side out.

These are not the same despite your desire to try to claim the other side should try to unite with the first.

maga was a Reagen slogan he like fucked it all to hell with nazism

B18Champ posted...

I seem to remember Biden giving a speech in philly where he was basically demonizing half the population, so both sides are guilty of doing this

What did he say? And half the population? How'd he manage that?

always chuds takes of both sides

[LFAQs-redacted-quote]

Trump's only solid keystone position is being pro-Trump