The Resentment Strategy-By PAUL KRUGMAN

Op-Ed Columnist
The Resentment Strategy

By PAUL KRUGMAN
Published: September 4, 2008

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The Republican Party, now more than ever, is firmly in the hands of the angry right, which has always been much bigger, much more influential and much angrier than its counterpart on the other side. ...What the G.O.P. is selling, in other words, is the pure politics of resentment; you’re supposed to vote Republican to stick it to an elite that thinks it’s better than you. Or to put it another way, the G.O.P. is still the party of Nixon. ...

When Mr. Bush turned out not to be that smart after all, and his presidency crashed and burned, the angry right ... became, if anything, even angrier. Humiliation will do that. Can Mr. McCain and Ms. Palin really ride Nixonian resentment into an upset election victory in what should be an overwhelmingly Democratic year? The answer is a definite maybe.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/05/opinion/05krugman.html?_r=2&partner=rssuserland&emc=rss&pagewanted=all&oref=slogin&oref=slogin