The Politics of Hate

While I’m not sure whether the Rovian/Bush approach to winning elections by cynically using hate speech to divide the country rather than running on anything inspirational or unifying will truly be completely buried and discredited with the current presidential campaign (depending on the outcome of course), it certainly so far has not gained serious traction. With fear in the air about the economy and the overall future of the country, it’s clear the electorate are looking for leadership and hope, and want nothing to do with the kind of toxic innuendo and hate that has been emanating from the GOP.

Surprisingly—and perhaps as a reflection of the desperation of the McCain campaign—McCain has done little to change his playbook. Indeed, if anything, the attacks have become even more shrill and ridiculous, with members of the GOP now recklessly claiming that some parts of the country are not “pro-American” and Minnesota Congressional Representative Michele Bachmann calling for McCarthy-like investigations of whether her fellow members of Congress are anti-American (which has spectacularly backfired as noted here and here). The GOP has puzzlingly continued this scorched earth policy despite most polls showing that voters are not only turned off by it (which admittedly they always say) but also that this strategy has made little dent to date in the numbers.

Of course, the GOP and McCain—who has embraced the right to the disappointment of those who once admired the Senator’s willingness to break at times with his party during the days of the “Straight Talk Express”—likely recognizes it now has little choice but to play the politics of fear, given that they cannot run on the economy, nor on their record, or on being agents of change. But at the same time, the shrillness and shameless mudslinging of innuendo and guilt of association has not only exposed the level of panic and hysteria in the GOP but also shown it truly is a party of hate, bereft of new ideas.

Colin Powell summed it up best when speaking about his endorsement of Barack Obama. He took the time of his endorsement as an opportunity to also express concern about the direction both of the campaign and the GOP in its strategy of using fear and hate to divide the country and to claim some people for being un-American. It’s a strategy, I trust, that history will eventually condemn as a dark time in American politics.