“If you work hard and aren’t lazy, maybe you too could own a coal mine!”
IMO, the Republicans latched on to America’s bigotry and racism (the Southern Strategy), paid lip service to Evangelicals, and then slowly started to counter anything and everything Democrats were “for” regardless of if it hurts themselves or not.
Today the Democrat party LITERALLY hates and wants to destroy America, and anything they are for is therefore evil. That includes having enough water so you don’t die on a job site. 
