All I can do here is describe what I’ve seen during my lifetime. To the extent there was any of what I describe here that occurred prior to 1980 (when I became politically aware, more or less) I didn’t live it and so I don’t want to guess about anything prior to that year.
Yes, Democrats had some issues with Reagan, acted in opposition to him where it made sense, and there were plenty on the left who engaged in personal attacks on him. But, they continued to try to govern. Both parties could argue and debate policy, but there was still some effort by both to work together when needed.
My sense ever since 1992 has been that the GOP believed, after 12 years of Reagan and GHWB, that the Presidency was their birthright. When Clinton was elected in 1992, the slow motion explosion of GOP heads began. It is an explosion that has continued to this day.
The GOP did everything it could to destroy Clinton while he was President. Truth didn’t matter. Integrity didn’t matter. All that mattered was to destroy Bill Clinton. And they almost succeeded. If they walked on the wrong side of the road, the GOP would have screamed for an investigation. The efforts to destroy the Clintons continue to this day even though neither of them will ever hold office again.
Eight years of GWB returned matters to the GOP definition of normalcy, but as you all know, 2008 rolled around and Barack Obama was elected President. What began with Clinton’s election erupted into a full blown crisis within the GOP. Saying the quiet part out loud — the election of a black man as President caused all too many GOP heads to explode.
It’s bad enough for a Democrat to be come President, but a black man? Nope. Conservative Republicans, those on the furthest reaches of the right wing, fundamentally believe that this is a White Christian Nation and that government should only be for them.
Obama’s election gave rise to the Tea Party. Moderate Republicans were primaried out of existence by candidates backed by the Tea Party. To this day, they have continued to demonstrate that they aren’t interested in governing for the American people. As the years have gone by, the Tea Party has grown in size and influence, resulting in moderate Republican elected officials either retiring or moving further to the right to keep their positions.
That is how the Republican Party in Congress became the Party of No. It is also how more and more state and local offices are held by people who have no interest in the actual act of governing. They are there to obstruct. That’s it.
Then, in 2015, the Orange Clown entered the scene and destroyed every political norm that used to define our elections. He gave voice to what the right-wing has believed for years, but had grown uncomfortable in saying. He gave them permission to be who they really wanted to be, to say what they really wanted to say, and outwardly describe, defend, and demand the things they want. Which ultimately is to not have to care about others, to be right to fear “the other,” and to try to humiliate and dehumanize anybody who thinks other than what they think.
Four years of Trump didn’t lessen any of this, and January 6 didn’t decrease their support for Trump and MAGA. It only strengthened it.
Now, as we race towards the 2024 election and Joe Biden has dropped out for Kamala Harris to take over, the explosion of their heads has reached its zenith. They will stop at nothing to try to prevent her election and, if she wins, will do everything possible to destroy her and block her from achieving anything for the American people. Because to them, their version of America, which benefits only them, is far more important than achieving good things for all of America.
In my lifetime, the GOP has steadily become more and more extreme as it fights against a reality it simply cannot believe in. We all suffer as a result
P.S. Yes, there is also evidence that moderate Democrats are also an endangered species. The difference is that Democrats in office still want to achieve things, find solutions, and get stuff done that might benefit the American people.
Which ultimately is to not have to care about others, to be right to fear “the other,” and to try to humiliate and dehumanize...this jumped at me like a snake in a basket. You nailed it. No one wants to care anymore, only about themselves. Trump truly started a movement of selfishness that may never take flight. I could cry just writing it.