For some Democrats, being anti-Trump may not be enough

THE election of Barack Obama as US president in 2008 came as a major blow to the leaders and activists of the Republican Party, who did not expect that a mostly-white electorate that had traditionally adhered to a centrist ideological outlook would choose a liberal Democrat who happened to be a young African-American with a very exotic name as the new White House occupant.

After a post-mortem of the 2008 election results and pondering their strategy for the next four years, Republican congressional leaders decided not to cooperate with the new president, hoping that that would constrain his ability to achieve his legislative and policy goals, and make it less likely that he would win a second term.

The 2008 election also energised the political base of the GOP, leading to public protests against President Obama and his policies, including his universal government-sponsored health-care insurance plan ("Obamacare"). It eventually evolved into what became known as the Tea Party.