ABSTRACT
As at every turn in our nation's history, political leaders are confronted with competing angers. Their responsibility is to try to reconcile these opposing emotions in a constructive manner. Public anger forces issues toward the extremes, creating bipolarities in politics that reflect these extremes. The bipolarity, oversimplification, and lack of civility in current politics in turn militate against assuaging anger and encourage the manipulation of it. But people could not be manipulated without a deep well of anger already in existence. Fearful of a reenactment of 1996, when anger manifested itself partly as alienation and apathy, political leaders today try to whip up the old angers that draw people to the polls and spell electoral victory. The early success of the presidential primary campaign of Pat Buchanan was a classic case of political anger, forcing leaders to address issues and opportunities open to them that were rooted in conflicting angers.
