[driftless2]

I was raised Catholic, and both my parents were diehard Democrats for whom FDR was a deity. After I turned conservative I used to joke at them that they thought he was still living. They both firmly believed that the Dem Party was the "party that cared" and the those nasty Republicans were just for the rich people. They so ingrained these ideas in their children that I was really puzzled by one of my neighbors who had a Goldwater for president sticker on his car but who appeared to be one of the nicest guys around. How could that be? I thought all Republicans were evil, nasty persons who wanted to kill poor people?

That's how insidious the anti-Republican bias was in those days. People who think modern Republicans are depicted as evil ogres should have seen how Goldwater was characterized. There's basically little or no difference. The media and culture were almost as anti-conservative back then as they are now.

[Netz]

In RAT’S eyes, a Republican is a cigar-chomping, unfeeling, cold-hearted, Capitalist exploiter (with a black top hat) of the “common man” who’s octopus tentacles are connected to the Trusts and the Military Industrial Complex.

This is a very strong image to alter in the minds of the public. Of course we have to have a healthy skepticism about the role of government but Republicans are ALWAYS portrayed in this light.

Vietnam only solidified this image and today’s boomers still carry the bitter taste of Republicans filtered through CBS’ Walter Conkrite (and I loved the guy).

How EVIL MacNamara, Nixon, Kissinger, Westmorland, Ford, the Bush’s, Palin and Romney and ANY Republican can be.

In short, Republicans are greedy warmongers while DemocRATS are for the common man. It doesn’t look like it’s going to change anytime soon.