Ronald Reagan and Charles Krauthammer were once loyal Democrats. I’d keep either one of them.
I don’t know about Alabama, but in NC almost all local pols are Democrats even though many are extremely conservative. It is possible that he thought the DC crowd was just another bunch of home-boys but found out differently.
Excellent about about the local NC pols. I would suspect we will see at least some if not a lot switching parties.
That happened after the Demorats nominated McGovern.
There have been conversions after the elections in 1972 and 1980.