Hateshift on the Left

Lately I've noticed a shift in the target of hatred by liberals concerning the Trump campaign.

Last spring it seemed as if the most acerbic vitriol from the Left was aimed mostly at Trump's followers more than Trump himself. This was partly, I surmised, because liberals tend to hate the followers more than leaders of their opposition (which I still think as generally true). Also Donald Trump has Pop Culture cred, so he started with a bonus of respect for them.

Now, at least for the moment, things are different. The hate from liberals is definitely aimed right at Trump himself. I think this is because he is winning, and people are sensing that he is going to be President, so the dread and loathing of him has gone to a new level. Moreover, it's all that's holding together the Democratic Party at this point. It's all that's keeping Hillary's campaign from imploding.

Also Donald Trump spends a lot of time criticizing liberal leaders now, and that always makes liberals really angry, no matter who says it. By doing this, he has taken on the role of being a lightning rod of hate for the criticism of his entire movement.

Don't conservatives do the same thing, freaking out when people criticize their leaders? Not to the same degree as liberals. This is yet another asymmetry between the two parties/sides in American politics, about which the liberals are unaware, and one of the reasons they consistency fail to understand what motivates conservatives (and why their arguments always "fall on deaf ears.")

The Democrats, in a party sense, really are a Cult of the Leader, where one always falls in line behind the top person. The cast of heroes evolves over time, but at any given moment, one is supposed to fall in line Soviet style with the lack of criticism of the Democratic leadership. Criticism of fellow Democrats is helping the enemy.

On the other hand, the conservative base hasn't really trusted the leadership of the Republican Party since 1964. Since that election, a great many people on the Right have felt like outsiders within the Republican Party. They loved Reagan as a man, but many of them never trusted the Bushes, and they weren't so sad to see them go in 2008 (unlike how the Democrats now feel about Obama, which will probably boil down to throwing themselves on the ground and seizing Michelle's ankles to keep her from boarding the helicopter on January 20).

Why is this important, you ask? Why should liberals care about how conservatives think?

Well, perhaps you don't. But in the last week, I've read three different comments from extrememly liberal friends of mine on Facebook, ones who often share memes and links about politics. They were all three of them  bemoaning that they are, in their own words, "singing to the choir" with all their comments about how Trump is awful/evil/insane, etc. They all expressed a wish to actually be able to create arguments that would work, or at least be seen by conservatives.

Liberals have taught conservatives very well how to keep a low profile on social media. To be a conservative lately is to be chill with people disagreeing with you, or else you cut yourself off from the world (or at least mainstream culture).

That's the way it should be, you might be saying.

Yes indeed. Ironically that's exactly the title of Hymn Number 612 from the Progressive Songbook, sitting right in the pew in front of you. Lyric by John Oliver.  Are you bass, tenor, alto, or soprano?