programs keeping them alive, but he would also oppose Black prez for being Black, so they voted for him


pure hate and nothing else

It explains why Florida feels so backward to most of us. It's because the way this state actually operates in small circles, benefits the people who belong to those small circles.

These far-right politicians campaign on a platform of "tax cuts for small businesses" and "getting the government off the backs of hard-working families and small businesses"-simple, populist language that many voters love.

Once in power, however, they proceed to cut taxes, alright-for wealthy, powerful, corporate interests. This causes the intended and predictable deficit, giving the politicians an excuse to gut the infrastructure, social support systems, education, health care, and other popular public programs that many of their voters love. Why? Because, "We can't afford them....we have to be fiscally responsible, in this time of economic downturn..." Yeah, the downturn that your far-right, neo-liberal policies caused! (But I repeat myself...)

Meanwhile, at the same time all of this is happening, right-wing talk radio and other "populist" pundits and political activists stir up the hatred against "liberals' and "welfare cheats" and "lazy moochers" and "illegals" that is deeply rooted in the common social prejudices and anti-intellectualism/anti-rationalism in the popular American psyche. This provides even more incentive for many people to continue to vote Republican, and to drift further right into the "Tea Party" wing of the Party: if the voters are not very enthused about the Republican Party, then all the more reason to get them to HATE the Democratic Party, or anything "liberal" or "socialist" or "Communist." (Because they're all the same thing, right? Well, they've all been turned into dirty words by the right-wing mass media machine...)

If you notice in large, important campaigns for national office (the Presidency being the top office), generally the main Republican candidates in those elections try to stay "above the fray" in the general election-it's their surrogates who are the most vicious as attack dogs. The candidate tends to stick with lavishing praise on the "American people". General, broad, rather abstract terms-but with a "common touch." Reagan was a master at this type of campaigning, and George Bush the Younger was solid at it, too (when he wasn't mangling basic syntax and grammar). Meanwhile, their many surrogates and pundit-supporters were free to lob the most despicable smears at the opposition. A game of "Good Cop, Bad Cop", in other words.

That's how the GOP wins elections. Fairly simple formula, all things considered.