1) As someone from the South who remembers George Wallace, all it takes is knowing Alabama history to know that "party switch" is a MYTH.
Wallace was a life long Democrat. He NEVER switched parties.
1963 ran & won as Dem. for Gov. (& put his wife in to run as Dem. Gov 1967-68).
Wallace was a life long Democrat. He NEVER switched parties.
1963 ran & won as Dem. for Gov. (& put his wife in to run as Dem. Gov 1967-68).
2) 1968 ran & lost as Dem. for POTUS but WON the 5 state that had voted for Goldwater (an extremist in his own party).
1970 ran & WON as a Dem. for Gov. as a HARD-LINE SEGREGATIONIST (AFTER Civil Rights Act passed in 1964).
1970 ran & WON as a Dem. for Gov. as a HARD-LINE SEGREGATIONIST (AFTER Civil Rights Act passed in 1964).
3) 1972 ran & lost as Dem. for POTUS on platform OPPOSED to desegregated bussing.
1976 ran & lost as Dem. for POTUS but carried Southern States of Miss., Ala., & S.C.
1983 thru 1987 ran & WON as a Dem. for Gov. (AGAIN, AFTER Civil Rights Act 1964).
1976 ran & lost as Dem. for POTUS but carried Southern States of Miss., Ala., & S.C.
1983 thru 1987 ran & WON as a Dem. for Gov. (AGAIN, AFTER Civil Rights Act 1964).
4) Throughout all of this supposed time period, the parties, we are told, somehow "switched". Apparently Wallace didn't get the memo. We didn't see that occur from the most noted racial segregationist that would supposedly appeal to "white" southerners.
5) Wallace remained a Democrat for life and he was continually re-elected in Alabama, even with his racial segregationist history. To his credit, he admitted his error later in life. But don't try to convince this Alabama girl that "all the racists went to the Republican party".
6) I know better.
I lived it.
Only in 1987 - POST Democrat racial segregationist Wallace - did Alabama finally elect a Republican for Gov. since Reconstruction.
Want to know why? I think I can speak to it, since I used to BE a Democrat.
I lived it.
Only in 1987 - POST Democrat racial segregationist Wallace - did Alabama finally elect a Republican for Gov. since Reconstruction.
Want to know why? I think I can speak to it, since I used to BE a Democrat.
7) I am white. I grew up in the sixties & seventies, & voted in the eighties. I was a product of both time, family, & culture.
I began as a Democrat. I voted for Wallace. I was taught that Dems were for "the little guy". The "working man". Rep's were for the rich & "big biz".
I began as a Democrat. I voted for Wallace. I was taught that Dems were for "the little guy". The "working man". Rep's were for the rich & "big biz".
8) I didn't vote Dem. or for Wallace b/c I was a racist. I voted Dem. b/c that's what I grew up doing. Keep in mind that prior to 1987 (Guy Hunt-R) ALL Gov's of Ala were DEMOCRAT since the Civil War Reconstruction. This was straight thru the Civil Rights Act era. AL was Democrat.
9) Why did I vote Democrat? It's all we knew. We believed propaganda. We viewed "big biz" as a "northern" & rich "big biz" threat to "the little guy". Now even tho I voted Dem b/c that's how I was raised to think (vote for the "little guy"), I am not naive. I know the history.
10) Many voted Democrat & for Wallace BECAUSE of racism. The rest of us were just ignorant enough to think they actually cared about "the little guy". And by "us" I mean blacks too. We bought into the "evil" Republicans & "big biz" as the enemy that Dems would "protect" us from.
11) Time and maturity and yes, education, has a way of curing this ignorance. I left the Democrat party in 2003 never to return.
That's not to say the Republican party is without fault. It has many, most notably I've recognized since I switched parties. LOL
That's not to say the Republican party is without fault. It has many, most notably I've recognized since I switched parties. LOL
12) Self-reflection has a way of bringing these things to light. Repubs have been saying they're sorry since 2005. But Dems have never reflected on such things. They project their blame via propaganda willingly touted by a complicit media & education system instead of owning it.
13) And now the script is flipped b/c Dems have never apologized for their racist history. Where Repub's were punished for exploiting race as a POLITICAL issue & had to apologize for it in 2005, Dems will have to learn the same lesson & for the same mistake.
14) FACT: LBJ garnered the black vote by signing the CRA 1964 so Dems would have their party's label attached to it. It doesn't reflect the true fact of his opposition many times prior to it --until it became obviously POLITICALLY EXPEDIENT to do in order to get the 'black vote'.
15) All one need do is research LBJ's comments to know he was a card carrying racist. But he was also politically saavy. And he saw the opportunity to ride a wave of change that was inevitable and use it for his party's benefit.
16) As a result, Repub's were left with trying to come up with their own strategy. Instead of trying to win these new voters & touting the FACTS of Civil Rights being a Republican led effort from day one & fighting for those bragging rights LBJ politically claimed, they caved.
17) Instead Republicans concentrated on core conservative principles, one of which was anti-big gov, which by default means advocating 'states rights'.
And that was naturally claimed by Dems, as with Goldwater, to mean anti-Civil Rights.
NEWSFLASH.
It didn't.
It doesn't.
/END
And that was naturally claimed by Dems, as with Goldwater, to mean anti-Civil Rights.
NEWSFLASH.
It didn't.
It doesn't.
/END
@threadreaderapp Unroll please
