Posted on 06/08/2004 1:28:43 AM PDT by Jet Jaguar
MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) - Before 1980, conservative whites in the South often rallied around homegrown, segregationist politicians such as Alabama's George Wallace and South Carolina's Strom Thurmond.
Then came a Californian - Ronald Reagan. He was able to combine a right-wing political message with a gentle, persuasive voice to bring conservatives and some moderate whites into the GOP, experts said.
Reagan's legacy can be seen across the once-solidly Democratic South, where Republicans now hold a majority of U.S. Senate and House seats and form a powerful GOP bloc in presidential elections.
(Excerpt) Read more at ap.tbo.com ...
"conservative whites in the South often rallied around homegrown, segregationist politicians such as Alabama's George Wallace and South Carolina's Strom Thurmond."
I think they should have mentioned Robert Byrd before Thurmond.
But then, Byrd was never a racist pig...right?
Bunk. Usual liberal tripe on how the Southerners joined the GOP to give vent to their lingering racism. They'll never understand why the South became Republican.
He changed the face of the GOP by emphasizing and advocating the positive values of conservatism in free markets, limited government, and a strong military. At the same time he left behind the negative stereotypes of bigotry and elitism.
He was the greatest President of the 20th century, hands down. He saved the GOP. Shame on us if we forget the lessons he taught us.
you write better than I think. Thank you.
Your analysis is the key to understanding why ordinary people have flocked in droves to the GOP, not just in the South but all over the country. Don't expect liberals to grasp it though. As far they're concerned the only thing is we're eevil racists and stupid folks who support the Republican Party over our true interests.
Thanks for posting this one!
sure thing Sir!
"With Reagan's victory, the Republican Party became much more of the party for conservatives in the South," said Ferrel Guillory, director of the program on Southern Politics, Media and Public Life at the University of North Carolina. "He gave political cues on issues like race, religion and social change that appealed to white Southerners who didn't want the South to change."
My dad and grandfather were southern dems. They both left the party when the party left them. (largely due to Ted Kennedy judging Bork). Teddy Kennedy Judging anybody is a bad plan.
That's what I told my wife and she corrected me. Perhaps the greatest President ever.
This is a real lesson for the Republican party. The once "solid south" is no longer a Democrat strong-hold, it is more like a Democrat waste-land. Things can change and if the Republican party abandons the principles of conservatives they will eventuyally abandon the Republican party. It can happen and it has.
mornin',
I get this patent response frm a leftie @ work (that the racists became republicans...). Never mind that I point out the dichotomy between his words on this statement and between the one espousing democrat support for minorities via the Civil Rights Act and continued preference programs - said contradiction being brought home to his widening pupils when i point out that it was the Republicans in Congress (by virtue of 92% support of...) voting for the CRA that made it's passage possible.
At that point (as at so many others in similar and frequent debates we have...) his eyes glaze over and the change-of-topic that signifies a leftist retreat kicks in...
In any case, would be interested in reading your take on why the South became Republican - or, as I see it: First, Republican; ultimately, Conservative.
Fregards,
CGVet58
The Democrats are trying to regain the South by using the big government is better idea, and it's working in Tennessee, South Carolina, and Georgia, which have all instituted massive expanded government plans under Democrats. The Dems brought the expansion to push for "education" by luck, and that is hurting us dearly on the economic front. North Carolina's Dem Governor wants a state-run gambling operation also. A state-run gambling operation, in the eyes of liberal Governors, will collect more revenue than the largest private company (publicly held) in the state. That's their game plan.
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