Fascinating article. 2 POTUS's have the most enmity from each political party: GWB despised by Dems & BHO despised by GOP.

3 reasons apiece why each POTUS so depised : For GWB, it was Iraq, Katrina & tanking economy in his final year of office. For BHO, it is sour economy, "Obamacare" & the fact that he's African-American.

As I've stated before, this  polarization shows that U.S. is in "cold civil war" with itself. This board is ample proof of that. Pehaps the U.S. has become SO divided that it's become ungovernable & all POTUS's might be "polarizing" from now on.

My very first OP here was about when polarization
really accelerated in this country. To make a call of that nature is subjective & depends on one's ideology. For me, it starts with overturning of "fairness doctrine " in '87 which open the door to right wing talk radio ( Limbaugh, Hannity ) & in '96, debut of right-wing cable news ( Fox ) Things get really kicked into high gear with contested 2000 election. If others have opinions about when they feel polarization really kicked in, feel free to add your opinions.

Will the country become less polarized & unite more behind another POTUS ? At the moment, doesn't look promising.



-- Modified on 1/27/2012 6:26:14 AM

How could Obama possibly be polarizing? The guy is milque-toast. Hell, he's not even a liberal.

Of course, today's GOP, which leans closer to fascism than conservatism, finds Hiliary Clinton polarizing too, and she's more conservative than Obama. I believe Bill Maher said something along the lines that "if you hate Hiliary Clinton then you were molested by a real estate lady."

Imagine if an actual liberal, like say Dennis Kucinich was in the White House. Kucinich has hardly a radical, but I'd bet Rush's audience brains would explode if he lived on Pennsylvania Ave.

...I never think about Obama's race unless someone else mentions it.

This is a strange experience. I never think of a white politicians race. I don't think of Hiliary Clinton or Mitt Romney or Newt Gingrich or Nancy Pelosi as white politicians. The thought just doens't occur to me. They're just politicians.

Now when I see a guy like Jesse Jackson, or Al Sharpton, or Maxine Waters, I do notice that they're black.

Obama, nope. I never notice his race.

It's not by choice. It's something I struggle with. It's not easy to deprogram yourself, and I've been trying my damnest for the last 20 years.

There are cultural and class aspects to this. If I'm driving in the city and I hear some loud hip hop playing and see a black guy with lots of tattoos, I'm going to lock my door. If I see a black guy in a suit on K Street I'm not going to lock my doors, and I probably won't notice the guy's race.

Jackson, Sharpton, and Waters all speak with a southern accent. It's an accent that's unique to blacks in the south, and this is instantly recognizable, while it may not be consciously thought about. You can hear the difference in recordings of how Martin Luther King spoke with a rich southern way of speaking, vs. the way Malcolm X spoke. Obama speaks in the same manner than Malcolm spoke. It's a northern accent, and there are less established linkages in American public mind with that northern accent.

Anyway, that's my theory.

-- Modified on 1/27/2012 1:58:35 PM

Good article. I'll also add that of those reasons mentioned, Bush had 2 that were within his control (Iraq, tanking economy) whereas Obama only had one (Obamacare).

Bush could have decided not to invade Iraq and the fabricated WMD evidence didn't help support his justifications later. Bush could have strengthened financial controls and regulations but instead allowed his appointed cronies to weaken the regulators until they became shadows of their former selves. This allowed financial institutions to run amok, take bets that their coffers couldn't handle, and almost destroy the global economy (it did destroy Iceland's economy).

Obama could and should not have tried to mandate healthcare coverage via Obamacare. The tactical mistakes of his first term was focusing on healthcare instead of the ailing economy, not to mention putting idiots like Larry Summers and Tim Geitner in charge of fixing the economy.

the three issues you mentioned (war, Katrina, final year economy).  He was hated by Dems for being the guy that defeated Al Gore in the closest election this country had seen in over a century.  While libs disliked the things you mentioned, they already hated his guts.

And Obama's race is an issue with some but not with most.  His "elitist" attitude for a guy who is far from "elite" pisses off more conservatives and independents than his skin color.

The explosion of the 24-hour, 7-day a week news cycle is responsible for most of today's polarization. Can you imagine how LBJ would have been treated if the Vietnam war were going on in today's media world?  Hell, he was treated bad in his era, let alone today's cable news world.

And JFK's long list of girlfriends would have made Bill Clinton's list look like a REader's Digest version.  If Herman Cain had the media of the 1960's, not only would he still be in the race but he might have been the frontrunner at this very time for the Republicans.

I don't like Bush because he surrounded himself with business-opportunist cronies and appointed them to positions of power, where they served to basically allow the few (1%) to rape and pillage the economy at the expense of the many (99%). If Bush had not been elected President, we would NOT have had the subprime credit crisis of 2008 and the resulting crash of the global economy.

I don't like Obama because he surrounded himself with idealistic theory-minded cronies that had no appreciation of theory vs. real life applications and appointed them to positions of power, where they served to worsen the economic malaise instead of fixing the problem, by focusing on other non-pressing issues like healthcare. If Obama had not been elected President, we may not have been in a better economic condition but things certainly would not have gotten worse.

For some Americans, the fact that Obama is a black man is polarizing enough. After Obama was elected, some who were interviewed in the South said that while Obama was elected the President of the United States, they did not consider him "their President".

I think that shows how open-minded you are with regards to race and a person's ability to lead this country as President.

Do you know why you notice the other politicians are black, but not Obama?

Well, I'm not here to judge you or anyone else's beliefs. We all have experiences that have shaped who we are and what we believe in. So long as our beliefs don't oppress or endanger anyone else, to each their own.

I see what you mean about how audio clues in how people speak can make the race of some instantly recognizable. I think there is truth in your theory.

When I see white politician I hear liar  .  

I don't think that makes either of us racists.  I also feel threatened by loud, aggressive white guys.  But the whole "I don't see color" thing is ridiculous.  Of course you see color.  The surface of someone is what you see first.  All that matters is how you think and act as a result.

I believe it started with Nixon and Watergate.  Nixon proved he's do anything to get re-elected.  The Watergate hearings that led to his resignation enraged Republicans, who vowed revenge.  They doubled down when Dems defeated the nomination of Bork to the Supreme Court.  All the decisions of the Warren Court also enraged Republicans.  Remember Barry Goldwater?  That was the first sign that the right wing in America had never accepted the New Deal and Great Society role of government.
Payback came when Clinton was impeached, and now the Dems will never forgive the Reps for that. Then Republicans were enraged when Democrats blocked many of Bush's efforts and ridiculed him, not to mention the divisiveness of the war in Iraq. Many Democrats (including me) will probably never forgive the Republicans for their obstructionism vs. Obama. It is all a part of the culture wars in this society, combined with profound disagreements over America's role in the world.  It's not going away.

-- Modified on 1/28/2012 11:03:27 AM

That's not true for some.

The first thing I notice is how someone behaves, not the color of his or her skin. Then again, I was raised in an urban multicultural environment where many races mixed and lived/worked/played together.