My question is why do they hate him more than Reagan?
And I think the answer is, because in many ways he is a far bigger threat than Reagan ever was: Bush has the potential to totally deconstruct the modern Democratic Party, and they know it. In the next election he'll gain some blacks, gain some Hispanics, and gain some Jews. These won't be landslide numbers, but if he merely gets 15% of the black vote and 38-40% of the Hispanic vote, it will be a crippling blow not just to the top of the ticket, but all the way down.