> these guys at work, and def. r's family, would have been flipping a
> lid had clinton won or gore or kerry or edwards.
That's my take on the people in my family who seem into this (but not to the point of attending rallies). They were into the same scene during Clinton. What's different about them is that they definitely have some sort of racial sand in their underwear -- very dismissive of the gains from the civil rights movement, apparently whipped up about the loom threat of reparations, etc. in ways you don't hear much even in private company. It's creepy to hear it; the empathy is lacking even in principle.
All are either very well off professionals or in financially enviable retirements.
-- Andy