# Why are Republicans so partisan? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [April 12, 2017, 7:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-republicans-so-partisan/784298 "2017-04-12T07:54:58Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2017, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-republicans-so-partisan/784298/21 "2017-04-12T20:17:13Z")
> [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](#): > > This seems to explain things (the bolded part especially) like defunding the NEA and Amtrak and creating universal healthcare that works are things to be avoided, because other people might be getting that $20. There’s a lot of truth in that. Conservatives oppose welfare because they don’t want any of them (blacks) getting our (whites’) money. If the Republicans really want to kill Social Security all they have to do is show pictures of Muslims cashing their SS checks and old white people would trip over themselves getting to rallies to disband Social Security. ---
**Author:** ![octopus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/octopus/32/3716_2.png) [@octopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/octopus)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2017, 8:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-republicans-so-partisan/784298/22 "2017-04-12T20:34:05Z")
> [@igor\_frankensteen](#): > > The answer to this is actually fairly simple. How the Republicans came to BE so head-s-up-their-own petards is a little more complex, though. > > Basically, it all started with their concluding some very long time ago now, that they are always destined to be the MINORITY party. They came to THAT conclusion, because of another collection of wrong headed ideas before, including the assumption that all POOR PEOPLE will always decide things based on immediate gratification, while inherently superior RICH PEOPLE will always decide things more wisely. > > Ironically and amusingly enough, THAT bit of idiocy was based on simple prejudice, which they actually half-recognized, but decided to ignore, for the exact reasons that they attributed to those abysmal POOR PEOPLE: simple short term greed. > > Anyway. Once they were sure that poorer people would ALWAYS vote the wrong way, and that there would always be more poor people than rich people (they’d see to that directly), the only rational thing for them to do as a Party who wanted to be in power,was to LIE LIKE A CAT ON A WARM RADIATOR, non-stop (and cheat at the polls in various ways). > > This was necessary in order to get elected into public office in sufficient numbers that they could finally install their REAL agenda, which involves essentially arranging that most people will remain permanently poor and desperate enough to work very cheaply, and thus insure that the rich remain insanely rich forever. > > And why put Party loyalty above Country, even as they use an extremely crude version of blind patriotism to hide half of their true agenda from their own suckers? I mean supporters? Because that is imperative, in order to make sure that none of their leaders wake up to the reality that their main programs will actually DESTROY the economy. > > And at the top of it all, is the absolute conviction in the core of their beings, that they don’t ever have to open their eyes or minds and look at the actual and logical consequences of their actions, because they are supremely certain that they are RIGHT. > > So again, it’s sort of simple: the Republicans are trying to destroy the United States as a viable independent nation, because they are absolutely certain that despite the majority of Americans wanting the opposite, that they are inherently right about all of their delusions. > > It’s in the nature of all truly insane people, that they will protect themselves, by obeying the logic of their insane delusions, and never trust any sane people who say otherwise. > [@BobLibDem](#): > > There’s a lot of truth in that. Conservatives oppose welfare because they don’t want any of them (blacks) getting our (whites’) money. If the Republicans really want to kill Social Security all they have to do is show pictures of Muslims cashing their SS checks and old white people would trip over themselves getting to rallies to disband Social Security. These are serious positions? ---
**Author:** ![Clothahump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/51bf81/32.png) [@Clothahump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Clothahump)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2017, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-republicans-so-partisan/784298/23 "2017-04-12T20:58:35Z")
> [@Happy\_Fun\_Ball](#): > > When asked in 2013 on whether the US should strike Syria with missiles in response to Bashar al-Assad using chemical weapons against civilians, a Washington Post/ABC poll found that 22% of Republicans and 38% of Democrats supported Obama in this action. Today, in 2017, a new poll by the same organizations finds that 37% of Democrats support Trump launching missiles compared to 86% of Republicans. From this swing, it seems to me that Republicans have a very strong attitude that party comes before country. Or something. Has it occurred to you that the missile strike was a GOOD thing to do, and that 86% of Republicans agree as opposed to only 37% of Democrats? If that is the case, then the question could just as easily be asked of Democrats: why are they so partisan that they refuse to support something good for the country? Is it just because Trump did it? It would be interesting to find out. ---
**Author:** ![k9bfriender](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/k9bfriender/32/3283_2.png) [@k9bfriender](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/k9bfriender)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2017, 9:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-republicans-so-partisan/784298/24 "2017-04-12T21:02:53Z")
> [@Clothahump](#): > > Has it occurred to you that the missile strike was a GOOD thing to do, and that 86% of Republicans agree as opposed to only 37% of Democrats? If that is the case, then the question could just as easily be asked of Democrats: why are they so partisan that they refuse to support something good for the country? Is it just because Trump did it? It would be interesting to find out. That is possible. But then explain why most republicans were against doing the exact same thing when Obama was president? ---
**Author:** ![Aspenglow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aspenglow/32/76_2.png) [@Aspenglow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aspenglow)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2017, 9:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-republicans-so-partisan/784298/25 "2017-04-12T21:04:39Z")
A big part of the explanation, in my opinion, is that they are thoroughly instructed on how to be. What they hear from the propaganda machines tends to comport with what they want to believe anyway, so it ends up in a really ugly feedback loop that few of them are able to recognize. But we see the effects every day on this message board. Fox “News” consolidates and summarizes the Message of the Day as dictated by their corporate sponsors for the masses. The messages are simple and easy to digest for almost any uncritical mind. The messages are disseminated to the leadership, who then disseminate them to their party adherents, who then disseminate them to their constituents. It doesn’t take long for a meme to take hold and almost overnight, they are in lockstep over what they believe – even if they don’t necessarily understand why they believe it. It just all feels so right, in every sense of the word. Example: The recent Susan Rice smear. Fox “News” and their corporate masters pick a figure who has already been (wrongfully) tainted by the Benghazi smear and is as a result is already widely despised by the alt-right. They suggest through pure innuendo she has done something wrong by “unmasking” American citizens who were swept up in incidental surveillance. They never clarify that “unmasking” is not the same as “leaking,” and suggest she has violated the law by couching the story in unfavorable terms, complete with spooky music and every sort of disgusting innuendo. They never clarify that she did nothing more than what her job as a National Security Advisor required. Bingo: Instant Susan Rice “scandal” that must be “investigated.” Watch them do this over and over again. It’s a despicable tactic, but a very effective one that keeps the Republicans marching in lockstep against even their own best interests. Other popular memes with no basis in truth: Poor people are always undeserving losers who brought their situation on themselves; People with money always earned it themselves and pulled themselves up by the bootstraps; Taxes can never be too low; Government is always bad and wrong (especially if a black guy is heading it up); Utilizing the military is always correct, right and good when America does it; America was founded as a Christian nation; Corporations are people; Immigrants are bad, scary people, probably terrorists, and a sensible immigration policy with a path to citizenship benefits no one. Every immigrant is either a terrorist or a “taker.” I could go on and on, as I’m sure most of us could. I guess when your “news” sources validate what you already want to believe, it’s pretty hard to think critically about them and you end up thinking the same thing as every other Republican. Although it has been interesting if horrifying to watch a credibility gap develop between even Fox “News” and the alt-right “news” sources such as Infowars, Breitbart and Zerohedge. The alt-right got so batshit that even Fox couldn’t completely go down those rabbit holes. Most unfortunately, Trump subscribes to the beliefs of the latter and has been working hard to marry them to the former. ---
**Author:** ![octopus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/octopus/32/3716_2.png) [@octopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/octopus)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2017, 9:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-republicans-so-partisan/784298/26 "2017-04-12T21:35:38Z")
> [@Aspenglow](#): > > A big part of the explanation, in my opinion, is that they are thoroughly instructed on how to be. What they hear from the propaganda machines tends to comport with what they want to believe anyway, so it ends up in a really ugly feedback loop that few of them are able to recognize. But we see the effects every day on this message board. > > Fox “News” consolidates and summarizes the Message of the Day as dictated by their corporate sponsors for the masses. The messages are simple and easy to digest for almost any uncritical mind. The messages are disseminated to the leadership, who then disseminate them to their party adherents, who then disseminate them to their constituents. It doesn’t take long for a meme to take hold and almost overnight, they are in lockstep over what they believe – even if they don’t necessarily understand why they believe it. It just all feels so right, in every sense of the word. > > Example: The recent Susan Rice smear. Fox “News” and their corporate masters pick a figure who has already been (wrongfully) tainted by the Benghazi smear and is as a result is already widely despised by the alt-right. They suggest through pure innuendo she has done something wrong by “unmasking” American citizens who were swept up in incidental surveillance. They never clarify that “unmasking” is not the same as “leaking,” and suggest she has violated the law by couching the story in unfavorable terms, complete with spooky music and every sort of disgusting innuendo. They never clarify that she did nothing more than what her job as a National Security Advisor required. Bingo: Instant Susan Rice “scandal” that must be “investigated.” > > Watch them do this over and over again. It’s a despicable tactic, but a very effective one that keeps the Republicans marching in lockstep against even their own best interests. > > Other popular memes with no basis in truth: > > Poor people are always undeserving losers who brought their situation on themselves; > > People with money always earned it themselves and pulled themselves up by the bootstraps; > > Taxes can never be too low; > > Government is always bad and wrong (especially if a black guy is heading it up); > > Utilizing the military is always correct, right and good when America does it; > > America was founded as a Christian nation; > > Corporations are people; > > Immigrants are bad, scary people, probably terrorists, and a sensible immigration policy with a path to citizenship benefits no one. Every immigrant is either a terrorist or a “taker.” > > I could go on and on, as I’m sure most of us could. > > I guess when your “news” sources validate what you already want to believe, it’s pretty hard to think critically about them and you end up thinking the same thing as every other Republican. > > Although it has been interesting if horrifying to watch a credibility gap develop between even Fox “News” and the alt-right “news” sources such as Infowars, Breitbart and Zerohedge. The alt-right got so batshit that even Fox couldn’t completely go down those rabbit holes. Most unfortunately, Trump subscribes to the beliefs of the latter and has been working hard to marry them to the former. Seems more like an inaccurate caricature than useful analysis. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2017, 9:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-republicans-so-partisan/784298/27 "2017-04-12T21:45:21Z")
> [@Fuzzy\_wuzzy](#): > > Fake comparison going on here. Americans tend to support military action that has just taken place. They support future or proposed military action rather less. I suspect had Obama just went ahead and struck at Assad he would have seen a temporary jump in Republican support. So, why has Dem support for attacking Syria remained largely flat since the missile strikes? ---
**Author:** ![Deeg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/deeg/32/2955_2.png) [@Deeg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Deeg)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2017, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-republicans-so-partisan/784298/28 "2017-04-12T22:02:42Z")
> [@Miller](#): > > So, why has Dem support for attacking Syria remained largely flat since the missile strikes? Maybe because they are partisan. It is reasonable to believe that a second chemical attack would increase general support for a response (IMO, of course). However, since it’s Trump, partisan Democrats refuse to give it. ---
**Author:** ![Deeg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/deeg/32/2955_2.png) [@Deeg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Deeg)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2017, 10:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-republicans-so-partisan/784298/29 "2017-04-12T22:04:35Z")
> [@BobLibDem](#): > > There’s a lot of truth in that. Conservatives oppose welfare because they don’t want any of them (blacks) getting our (whites’) money. If the Republicans really want to kill Social Security all they have to do is show pictures of Muslims cashing their SS checks and old white people would trip over themselves getting to rallies to disband Social Security. Is it ironic that this post appears in a thread claiming Republicans are partisan? (I blame Morissette for confusing me forever.) ---
**Author:** ![k9bfriender](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/k9bfriender/32/3283_2.png) [@k9bfriender](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/k9bfriender)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2017, 10:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-republicans-so-partisan/784298/30 "2017-04-12T22:09:31Z")
> [@Deeg](#): > > Maybe because they are partisan. It is reasonable to believe that a second chemical attack would increase general support for a response (IMO, of course). However, since it’s Trump, partisan Democrats refuse to give it. Or maybe it’s because they are consistent, and don’t jump at every little thing whenever fox news tells them to. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2017, 10:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-republicans-so-partisan/784298/31 "2017-04-12T22:10:07Z")
> [@Deeg](#): > > Maybe because they are partisan. It is reasonable to believe that a second chemical attack would increase general support for a response (IMO, of course). However, since it’s Trump, partisan Democrats refuse to give it. So, ~65% of Democrats opposed an action when a Democrat proposed it, and ~65% of Democrats opposed the same action when a Republican does it. And this is taken as evidence that the Democrats are partisan. Sure. ---
**Author:** ![Some\_Call\_Me.Tim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/439d5e/32.png) [@Some\_Call\_Me.Tim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Some_Call_Me.Tim)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2017, 10:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-republicans-so-partisan/784298/32 "2017-04-12T22:12:06Z")
> [@Gyrate](#): > > At least until we win so much we get tired of winning. He kept that promise right away! I became tired of Donald Trump winning as of, oh, roughly, November 8. ---
**Author:** ![Fubaya](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/c2a13f/32.png) [@Fubaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fubaya)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2017, 10:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-republicans-so-partisan/784298/33 "2017-04-12T22:21:25Z")
> [@Clothahump](#): > > Has it occurred to you that the missile strike was a GOOD thing to do, and that 86% of Republicans agree as opposed to only 37% of Democrats? If that is the case, then the question could just as easily be asked of Democrats: why are they so partisan that they refuse to support something good for the country? Is it just because Trump did it? It would be interesting to find out. But that’s not what the thread is about. It’s about Republicans’ massive flip flop, not Democrats’ lukewarm but steady support. It’s hard to argue that this strike was a good thing. Hell, it wasn’t really a thing. All we did was shoot up an empty airfield that was back in use killing civilians the next day and nobody knows wtf our Syria policy is because the lights are on at 1600 Pennsylvania but nobody’s home. I’m not against using force in Syria, but I’m against using farce and unless the administration wows us with a well thought out Syria strategy, so far it looks like we’re using the latter. ---
**Author:** ![marshmallow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/df705f/32.png) [@marshmallow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/marshmallow)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2017, 10:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-republicans-so-partisan/784298/34 "2017-04-12T22:51:34Z")
OP, if you want more detailed analysis try searching for “asymmetric polarization.” That’s the fancy wonk term. To trace the origin you could go way back: the Civil War, Reconstruction, the various red scares, the Cold War, the Civil Rights era, Vietnam, [the Fourth Great Awakening](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fourth_Great_Awakening), the conservative backlash against the '60s, the John Birch society, labor’s decline, Newt Gingrich, right-wing radio, Fox News, 9/11, Iraq, and the Tea Party. The structure of American government doesn’t do much to help this, either. AFAIK most emerging democracies model their government after parliamentary systems, nor ours. A healthy democracy would have multiple parties instead of a duopoly between two business wings that battle over social wedge issues while screwing over the workers. That won’t be changing anytime soon, though. Too bad. ---
**Author:** ![Quartz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quartz/32/267_2.png) [@Quartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quartz)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2017, 11:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-republicans-so-partisan/784298/35 "2017-04-12T23:37:10Z")
> [@Fubaya](#): > > I think that you’re a Republican voter Heh. I’m not even American. > [@](#): > > He used sarin in 2013 too, and killed fourteen times as many people as the sarin attack last week. And remind me, what did Obama do then? Nothing, wasn’t it? ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2017, 12:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-republicans-so-partisan/784298/36 "2017-04-13T00:16:28Z")
> [@Quartz](#): > > Heh. I’m not even American. > > And remind me, what did Obama do then? Nothing, wasn’t it? [This.](http://bigstory.ap.org/article/061669c53ab647708ac6cba656decb2d/timeline-chemical-weapons-use-syria) > [@](#): > > Aug. 21, 2013: Hundreds of people suffocate in rebel-held suburbs of the Syrian capital, with many suffering from convulsions, pinpoint pupils, and foaming at the mouth. U.N. investigators visit the sites and determine that ground-to-ground missiles loaded with sarin were fired on civilian areas while residents slept. The U.S. and others blame the Syrian government, the only party to the conflict known to have sarin gas. > > Aug. 31, 2013: Obama says he will go to Congress for authorization to carry out punitive strikes against the Syrian government, but appears to lack the necessary support in the legislature. Remember, this is the same Congress (more or less) that on the GOP side is overwhelming on Trump’s side for doing the same thing they refused to support Obama doing under the same circumstances. ---
**Author:** ![Velocity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/velocity/32/18006_2.png) [@Velocity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velocity)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2017, 1:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-republicans-so-partisan/784298/37 "2017-04-13T01:29:27Z")
I agree with the OP that Republicans are slightly more likely to put party ahead of country than Democrats. That being said, it’s worth noting that when Sonia Sotomayor was nominated by Obama, 9 Republican Senators crossed the aisle to vote for her, whereas only 3 Democratic Senators crossed the aisle to vote to confirm Gorsuch. (Yes, the Garland issue, but it was completely unrealistic to expect the Trump administration to withdraw Gorsuch and re-nominate Garland. It was a fait accompli by that point.) ---
**Author:** ![Velocity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/velocity/32/18006_2.png) [@Velocity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velocity)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2017, 1:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-republicans-so-partisan/784298/38 "2017-04-13T01:31:41Z")
I think one reason Republicans may also be more partisan is because they have more to lose. Countries and societies tend to become more liberal over time, so for Democrats, any setback is just a temporary one, and liberals can simply win again the next time. But conservatives and Republicans are, at any given moment, only 3-4 election cycles away from going extinct. ---
**Author:** ![igor\_frankensteen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/839c29/32.png) [@igor\_frankensteen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/igor_frankensteen)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2017, 2:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-republicans-so-partisan/784298/39 "2017-04-13T02:07:01Z")
Something to realize, is that the whole idea about what is and isn’t conservative has by now been thoroughly and purposely corrupted. The Republican Party as a group still thinks that it is conservative, but it has added a ton of “special rules” in order to more or less bribe certain subgroups to vote for them as knee-jerk as possible. There’s nothing at all conservative in denying science, for example. That ongoing stupidity was only adopted, because the Democrats jumped on the climate change bandwagon first, so the GOP decided to pretend it was all a lie. Since it became obvious now that climate change IS occurring, they shifted slightly, to saying “okay, it is happening, but we insist both that it’s always been like this, and that there’s nothing to be done about it.” There’s nothing conservative, and CERTAINLY nothing remotely Republican about supporting extreme States Rights. The republican Party was FOUNDED on the idea that the entire nation had a say in things like human rights. The modern pretense of the opposite, again, isn’t driven by philosophical convictions, it’s driven entirely by their certainty that they need the white racist vote, in order to stay in control of the various state legislatures which in turn allowed them to rig voting in their favor, and gain control of the House, Senate, White House, and now the Supreme Court. Voting on purpose to damage the international credit rating of the country, in order to make a very lame political statement to their base, is VERY un-conservative. They are mostly pure politics-of-the-moment, now, which is why Trump won the nomination and the Presidency. But they sure as hell aren’t conservative. ---
**Author:** ![Chen019](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f19dbf/32.png) [@Chen019](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chen019)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2017, 11:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-republicans-so-partisan/784298/40 "2017-04-13T11:26:50Z")
Pretty sure there was a study recently suggesting both sides were about as bad as each other in terms of partisanship. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-republicans-so-partisan/784298.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-republicans-so-partisan/784298.md?page=3)