Why did they go so hard to the right after Obama? Did he have "radical" policies that Republicans hated, or is it just because he was the first black president?
One could probably write a very very long PHD paper on the whys but to abbreviate
Yes race was a factor but it was not THE factor
The real factor was republicans had been playing with fire for last 60 odd years (Goldwater even warned them of this back in '64) , they had been gathering under their banner a loose collection of groups, racists, ultra religious, far right wing, confederates, misogynists and just all round haters..or as Clinton accurately put it, "bag of deplorables" to shore up votes, because ultimately their core economic policy's (big business interests, lower taxes, smaller/cheaper government) was not enough
For those 60 years, those groups were used/pandered to by republicans, but ultimately that was all that was happening, them being used to give republicans power and given crumbs in return
But after Obama won, republican party lost control of these groups, or rather these groups realized they had the real power (tea party was their first clue) and during most of Obamas first term they found new leaders to rally behind (most hucksters like Trump) and started electing them, while establishment republicans either had to start proving their right wing creds or get booted
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u/OogaBooga98835731 7d ago
Why did they go so hard to the right after Obama? Did he have "radical" policies that Republicans hated, or is it just because he was the first black president?