America’s politics of fear could finally be over

In a fiery speech at the Republican Midterm Convention, Sen. Tim Scott (R-S.C.) declared that this year’s crop of Democratic candidates was “extreme” — that should they gain power, they would “rip” the nation’s “heart out of our chests.”

His address was so virulent that the next morning, Rev. Al Sharpton asked his colleagues on Morning Joe to join hands while he prayed for divine intervention to calm the distraught senator.

Scott was not the only one to preach fire and brimstone to the Trump faithful. Speaking for “nearly two hours,” President Trump told his supporters that the Democrats were “radical left communists” whose party had been taken over by “crazed lunatics and radicals.”

Inspiring fear is an old tactic. Some years ago, Richard Nixon, a skilled practitioner in the art of political division, said: “People react to fear, not love. They don’t teach that in Sunday school, but it’s true.”

For nearly 40 years, Americans have reacted to the politics of fear. In 1992, 57 percent of voters described Bill Clinton’s election as making them either “concerned” or “scared.” Over half expressed the same emotions after George W. Bush’s victory in 2000; 24 percent felt the same after Barack Obama’s 2008 victory and 57 percent were just as disturbed after Trump’s 2016 win.

If Americans are afraid of each other, unity is impossible and accomplishments are few. George W. Bush promised to be a “uniter, not a divider.” Obama pledged that under his leadership that “we are, and always will be, the United States of America.” Joe Biden called upon his fellow citizens to “put........

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