Barry Goldwater was the angry conservative. Ronald Reagan was the happy conservative.

[Yavin4]

Goldwater lost big. Reagan won big.

The lesson here is that anger has limited appeal. Yes, it can get you a following, but you won't be able to expand it into a movement.

At times Reagan was angry where and when needed, but he also smiled and showed optimism when needed. He was an actor and knew how to play to the room.

For a movement to be successful, you need a mix of anger and optimism. You need to speak equally to fear and hope.

[DanTex]

1. Hope.

[George II]

2. I know they were republicans, so don't ding me for seemingly sticking up for them. But....

....Goldwater fought his party, Reagan worked with it. Says a lot about our Democratic candidates this year.

[Buckeye_Democrat]

3. What about Trump?

Where does he fit in your hypothesis?

[GreenPartyVoter]

4. My first thought, as well. There was no RW media to stoke grudges back then like today.

[Yavin4]

5. Trump has very limited appeal.

He benefitted from voter suppression, extremely biased media coverage, and poor campaign strategy from Hillary's campaign.

[Farmer-Rick]

6. Most Americans hate him

He got fewer votes, his approval rating even when Fox plays with them are below 50%.

The only people he polls well with are in the RepubliCON party and it is shrinking every day.


If you are going to take over a country as dictator, you really need to be loved by your citizens. Most people hate him and would punch him in the face if they met him in the street.

In fact a former RepubliCON in his late 60s just told me that today. His wife has diabetes and a heart problem. If she gets this virus she is dead. He said he wanted to punch Trump in the face for allowing this coronavirus to spread uncontrolled.

[braddy]

7. No republican was going to defeat JFK's vice president 11 months after his assassination, that was

impossible, so it always puzzles me why the media analyzes the election as they do as just the regular routine of 2 candidates and party issues and just ignore that 11 months dominant cloud of JFK aura.