Why are Republicans so angry at Washington? According to David T. S. Jonas, a onetime aide to Sen. Al Franken, it results from 1) “the expansion of economic and political rights for women, people of color, LGBT Americans, [and] immigrants” over the past few decades, and 2) the failure of Republicans in power to stop or reverse 1).
In a Sunday article for Salon, Jonas opined that Democrats (unlike Republicans) tend not to take their anger regarding government out on their party brethren because they (unlike Republicans) “understand that under our system…the only way you can make progress is by forming coalitions and compromising with potential opponents.”
Jonas argued that “the majority of Republican primary ballots cast today end up conveying a kind of protest message: give me back my power, or nobody else gets anything…And that’s where Republican anger ultimately comes from…You are told that you can win every election you want, but eventually, you’re going to have to compromise your beliefs…And you, as a voter, hear all of this, and you proudly stand up and shout…‘You know what? Fuck that!’”
From Jonas’s piece (bolding added):
In one poll, an astounding 72 percent of GOP voters said they were dissatisfied with then-Speaker Boehner’s and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell’s performance in Congress. That’s not all that different from how Democrats felt about those same Republican leaders.
…[W]here is this strain of Republican anger coming from?...
…[E]ssentially, the thrust of the past 50 years of American history has been the expansion of economic and political rights for women, people of color, LGBT Americans, immigrants and even citizens of foreign countries through free trade agreements and global economic competition…
In reaction to these trends, Republican activists have quite intuitively mobilized to restore their old power and to “make America great again”…
…Global economic competition isn’t going away, women aren’t going to withdraw from the workforce, and the continued diversification of our nation is only going to speed up. So as Republican activists have demanded that their elected representatives “releverage” their old power, they’ve butted up against the reality that the old America is long gone.
All of this makes Republican activists quite angry: They keep winning elections, but their day-to-day power doesn’t seem to have increased…By plenty of survey measures, Democrats are angrier about the government than Republicans. But for some reason, Republican anger doesn’t get foisted just on the opposing party—it somehow metastasizes and lands on the Republican Party as well…
…Democrats understand that under our system of checks and balances, the only way you can make progress is by forming coalitions and compromising with potential opponents…
…Republican activists rightly recognize that political compromise has propelled the deleveraging and will continue to propel it in the future. Congress more than ever has to incorporate the policy demands of women, people of color, immigrants, LGBT Americans and religious minorities. The very act of legislating means these groups have a seat at the table. For them, working with them in any capacity prevents a unilateral releveraging of the old guard’s power. Compromise just benefits the enemy.
…If Republican primary voters have won, and things haven’t gotten any better, it must be because someone has sold them out. This conclusion is reinforced almost daily for anyone who consumes conservative media.
As a result, the majority of Republican primary ballots cast today end up conveying a kind of protest message: give me back my power, or nobody else gets anything…
And that’s where Republican anger ultimately comes from: You are told that your demands will not be met. You are told that you can win every election you want, but eventually, you’re going to have to compromise your beliefs…
And you, as a voter, hear all of this, and you proudly stand up and shout…“You know what? Fuck that!”
Normally, activist movements like these burn out as the rest of the electorate wakes up and pushes back. But thanks to an incredibly successful Republican gerrymander following the 2010 midterms, the rest of the electorate has nowhere to push.
