I think we're all acutely aware of who on this board is guilty of calling people names and insulting posters' morality, and who refrains from that. When I see Poster A act ugly toward Poster B, accusing him of acting ugly while Poster B is being polite ... well, I just chuckle at the irony.
One of the things that made Martin Luther King, Jr successful, I think, was that he was always a class act. I think that sells. Contrast that with, say, Yassir Arafat. I think his cause had a lot of merit (although not as much) but I have much less sympathy for the cause because of the tactics.
The gay rights movement in general made their case in a positive way.
I think the Gandhi model of protest works. I think acting like an ass and insulting the audience you're trying to sell does not.
I wonder if there is anybody on this board who is both a more likely convert to the cause of opposing Trump, or a more useful ally. If there is the list is short. Yet the opponents of Trump go out of their way to insult me and act ugly. That's fine. I'm entertained. And maybe they understand that this isn't real life and nobody is selling anybody. But the emotion is so raw I wonder if they do. And if they did why they'd act ugly.
Any theories?