LaVar Hosting Jeopardy July 26-30 Stan Account 👁

George W. Bush thought he was leading a party about patriotism, small government, free market, "America's role in the world," etc., etc.

He might have been leading it that way, but the party was about fear, hatred, and jealousy of the Other, and very little else.

Do you think W didn't know that? He cynically manipulated homophobia to help elect Republicans. Or at least Rove did.

Yes, but I'm sure you'd see a divide between W and the base on, say, violence against LGBTQ ppl, or even employment discrimination.

But I do agree that homophobia, at least in 2000/2004 was an issue where the leaders and the base were more or less in sync.

I somewhat agree that at least some of the Republican elite honestly didn't see the bigotry plaguing the party, but

A lot of them did see it and learned dog whistles to harness that hatred because tax cuts for rich people aren't actually that popular.

What separates W from Trump maybe is that W et al thought they could harness the bigotry for political ends without succumbing to it,