Jeffrey Feldman: Election Brought Hard-Right Nationalism Into Light

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Jeffrey Feldman: Election Brought Hard-Right Nationalism Into Light

While the 2008 election finished with a great celebration at the victory of Barack Obama, it also dragged a grisly hard-right nationalism into the bright light of American politics. The GOP had flirted with nationalism in the 1992 and 1996 Presidential bids of Pat Buchanan, but this time, the hard-right rhetoric of the McCain-Palin campaign shot through the Republican base with such an intensity that the Secret Service expressed concern. The rise of a hard-right nationalist front in the Republican Party goes far beyond the antics of Sarah Palin. Hard-right nationalism is a monster now fully emerged in America, and to ignore it or simply ridicule it would be a grave mistake and a missed opportunity.

Some political analysts would argue that the 1992 and 1996 presidential bids of Pat Buchanan brought a similar kind of hard-right nationalism to the main stage of American politics, and they would be correct. In both those campaigns as a Republican candidate, Buchanan argued that America was under attack from without and within, rallying to his side those Republican voters who saw the election of a candidate as the first step on the road to total defeat for America's enemies. For Buchanan, those enemies were defined in racial terms, but also in terms of gender and social issues. The threats Buchanan campaigned equally against included Latinos, homosexuals, and anyone who supported Roe v. Wade. But Buchanan lost and lost badly, and his ideas ultimately left him without any significant support in the GOP.

The McCain-Palin campaign succeeded at a level beyond Buchanan's wildest dreams by including several elements that took Buchanan's racist, sexist and protectionist nationalism and replaced it with a logic of political violence.

Where Buchanan argued that American was under social and cultural threat, McCain and Palin argued that their opponent presented a physical threat to every American's property and life. They did this in two ways: (1) by accusing Barack Obama of being a 'terrorist' and (2) by accusing Barack Obama of being a communist.

The result was startlingly effective.

In 1992 and 1996, the most devoted followers of Pat Buchanan had deep concerns about the Democratic Party and Republican Party candidates who did not stand up for 'conservative values.' In 2008, by contrast, the most devoted followers of John McCain and Sarah Palin had more than deep concerns about ideology--they were deathly afraid of Barack Obama himself.

According to a recent article by the Telegraph, one of the results of Sarah Palin's campaign speeches in particular, was a spike in death threats against Barack Obama. The sudden rise ...

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