David Plazas

USA TODAY NETWORK — Tennessee

Where are great leaders to denounce fearmongering rhetoric and also to bring the nation together?

Despite the political speech, the United States has the strongest economy and military in the world.

Fearmongering is dominating American politics in 2016.

This tactic, where villains are created and the demagogues position themselves as the only ones capable of fixing the problem, is nothing new.

Think of the 20th Century populist Louisiana Gov. and Sen. Huey Long, who denounced wealthy Americans and banks during the Great Depression era.

Or Wisconsin Sen. Joe McCarthy, who sought to root out Communists in government, until questions about his decency stopped his nefarious crusade.

Whereas past villains might have been Communists, Catholics or Chinese immigrants, today’s villains are Muslims, undocumented immigrants and sexual minorities, like gay or transgender individuals.

No candidate has employed the rhetoric of fear and authoritarianism better than GOP frontrunner Donald Trump, whose solutions include building a high wall between the United States and Mexico or keeping Muslims from entering the United States.

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He is not alone. Democratic candidate Sen. Bernie Sanders has employed Long-ian rhetoric to denounce Wall Street, billionaires and corruption in politics.

The difference is that Sanders seeks to afflict the comfortable, while Trump’s targets are the voiceless and the marginalized, and the business mogul’s tactics are resonating with the Republican electorate and paralyzing the GOP establishment.

“Two things seem to be motivating (Trump’s rise): fear and anger,” said Vanderbilt University political science professor Mark Hetherington, co-author of the 2009 book “Authoritarianism and Polarization in American Politics.”

“That anger and fear — it’s producing a tremendous amount of pessimism,” said Hetherington, whose latest book is about dysfunction in American politics. “Can you imagine Ronald Reagan campaigning in that way? Reagan’s was never a hopeless message. We were great.”

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During the United States’ most challenging times, from the Great Depression to the existential threat of the Soviet Union, great leaders have eased citizens’ worries by urging them to reject their fears and work together for a better future.

President Franklin Roosevelt urged Americans to fear nothing “but fear itself” while Reagan celebrated America as “a shining city upon a hill.”

Today, in a far less perilous time, where the United States has the world's largest economy and is the dominant military superpower, even amid threats of terrorism, climate change and worries over the global economy, politics have soured.

A USA TODAY/Suffolk poll from February showed that Americans are motivated by fear in their voting.

USA TODAY/Suffolk Poll: Reaction by some to Trump and Clinton? Fear

Thirty-eight percent of likely voters, including 62 percent of Democrats, said they feared Trump as the GOP nominee, while 33 percent of likely voters, including 60 percent of Republicans, felt the same way about Hillary Clinton as the Democratic nominee.

It is a testament to the sad and dysfunctional state of politics that fear will likely play a role in electing the next President of the United States.

Where are the great leaders to denounce fearmongering rhetoric and also to bring the nation together?

Opinion Engagement Editor David Plazas wrote this editorial on behalf of The Tennessean Editorial Board. Call him at (615) 259-8063, email him at dplazas@tennessean.com or tweet to him at @davidplazas.