Comments on: SOUTHERN STRATEGY?

By: Brett

Brett — Wed, 31 Dec 1969 18:00:00 +0000

Everyone knows that the southern democrats opposed the major civil rights bills of the 1960s. In fact, in my post I say that it was northern democratic challenges to that opposition that allowed the civil rights bills to be passed. That's pretty standard political history of the 1960s and I don't see what's particularly controversial about it. Southern Democrats were in fact segregationists. They lost because northern democrats decided to go after african-american votes and realized they could win by doing so. Those segregationists then defected to the Republican party (courted by Goldwater, among others). Republicans are certainly entitled to take credit for voting for civil rights bills in the early 1960s. It's what happened afterwards that's really important. Not to put too fine a point on it, but it's going to take more than a selective reading of history for the Republicans to reclaim the mantle of the "party of Lincoln," I'm afraid. . .

By: PoliBlogger

PoliBlogger — Wed, 31 Dec 1969 18:00:00 +0000

Indeed, the point I was mainly making was that the idea that the main reason (or the reason which started the movement) for the South becoming strongly Republican, rather than strongly Democratic, was Nixon's "Southern Strategy". This was what Klein intimated in the Time piece and what I heard ad nauseam during the whole Lott fiasco at the beginning of the year. I find the allegation both empirically untrue and to smack of sophisticated name-calling, as it implies that the only possible reason for southerners to vote Republican is because they are racists. This is manifestestly not the case. Rather, as James rightly points out, the real shift in southern partisan politics starts more in the 1980s--and isn't fully complete in some places. Further, even in the Presidential arena, the actual record is more complicated than to say that the Republican move began with Nixon. Indeed, in 1968, the deep, deep South went for Wallace--clearly for racial reasons. Of course in 1972, practically everyone went for Nixon, so that isn't a very good test either. I have been doing some research on this issue to provide some facts to go with the actual argument, which I will hopefully be posting tonight or tomorrow some time.

By: PoliBlog

PoliBlog — Wed, 31 Dec 1969 18:00:00 +0000

Southern Strategery
A statement that I made earlier today concerning partisan re-alignment in the southern states has sparked a mini-debate amongst three polsci bloggersâmyself, James Joyner of OTB (here and here) and Brett Marston of Marstonalia. My main point of content...

By: PoliBlog

PoliBlog — Wed, 31 Dec 1969 18:00:00 +0000

Back to the "Southern Strategy"
I was watching Hardball this evening and during a roundtable segment towards the end of the program Chris Matthews, Nora OâDonnell, and David Gergen were discussing Senator Robert Byrdâs latest tirade from the Senate floor concerning the Presidentâs Ir...

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