I agree with most of what you are saying. However, I do think it's hard for some Democrats to understand that Hilary and Bill really are tied in with money making schemes, scandals, ethical breaches, and straight-faced lying in a manner that is not common to all politicians. The sheer number hits the "where there is smoke there is fire" level.
Reagan - Turned in anyone that challenged his power and position to the Kefauver Commission and Joe McCarthy. It let him consolidate his power, and power was money. He was little more than a mob mouthpiece with his Screen Actor's Guild Presidency.
And, My grandfather, who voted Republican from Roosevelt (TR), to Goldwater, not only hated him for what he did in Hollywood before he became a politician, but he hated him more for switching from a "Communist, and New Deal Democrat" to a conservative Republican. Gramps said that RR was the worst kind of politician there was. And that is the way Republicans of RR's generation overwhelmingly felt about him.
Bushes - Preston was a crook. And a traitor. I won't waste time delineating it here; it is all well documented. HW used his political clout to make sweetheart business deals under the table. There is more proof that he brokered the arms for hostages deal that held the Iranian hostages until after the '80 election than there is of any wrongdoing by the Clintons. W., was just a mess from failing flight duty (cocaine) and evading the draft, to bankrupting companies and getting a free pass, to conspiring to lie to the American people about going to war. [This still gets me so pissed off! I can't believe anyone gives him a free pass on that one; after all the British intelligence that has been released backs up what some American sources have maintained since day one! Yet all the 'True Patriots' want to give him a pass!]
I can go on . . .
Nixon stood out as paranoid, dishonest, and dangerous among Republicans. While democrats said lots of awful stuff about Reagan and HW Bush, and both guys did their dirty deeds Nixon was in a different category. However, had it not been for Watergate, people would still be arguing that his critics were just political hacks.
Man, you are really moving on the right track : A) He is on a whole different level, and I will delve into why I agree with you, below; B) Great point! In America, until someone is disgraced by the sway of public opinion, their supporters claim foul. It turns out that no one could or would claim foul with Tricky Dickey. So you are right, if he hadn't come off as so morally bankrupt, and mentally ill, it would have been the same back and forth as with every other politician, Hmmmm?
Many may conclude that Donald is worse or far worse in some manners. But Hilary and Bill are not just two more Democrats that Republicans hate. That would be Joe Biden or Al Gore. They have actual basis for distrusting them beyond the normal political shenanigans (albeit probably often exaggerated).
I don't see any reason for anyone to 'hate' Joe Biden. Actually, he is about as honest and above board as you are going to get in American Politics. The only reason for a Republican to resent him at all is that he is so skilled at tearing his opponents new assholes.
But Donald Trump isn't like Bill and Hillary, the Bushes, Reagan, or Biden. He is like Nixon. The two men (Nixon and Trump) each have a specific mental illness that overarches any of the good or bad things they have done.
As for the birther stuff, whether or not he was born in the U.S. was a matter of fact. He was, so there was no issue. However, it is not necessarily simply a matter of having an American mother. That's why I thought it was uber-hypocritical for Ted Cruz to run, or at least for birthers to support Cruz. Cruz is all about applying the Constitution as written, except for in that case.
