Going at least as far back as Reagan, Republicans have prided themselves as being the party of optimism and confidence, leading an exceptional country whose greatness was coded into its DNA.

Going back further, to Franklin D. Roosevelt, it has been the Democrats who have made common cause with the aggrieved and the left behind, who have been criticized for dwelling too much on the nation’s flaws and being squeamish about asserting power internationally.

For some Republicans, it is an unsettling juxtaposition.

“The Democrats used to be the party that said people are being taken advantage of and it’s time to settle the score. Now that’s the Republicans’ message,” said Stuart Stevens, who in 2012 was GOP nominee Mitt Romney’s chief strategist. “To let them become the optimistic party that wants to lift us up and unify America, it’s a disaster for Republicans.”

Or maybe it is smart positioning, given that parts of the country are in a prolonged funk, as evidenced by the fact that polls since 2009 have consistently shown more people believe it to be headed in the wrong direction than the right one.