,
7 tweets,
3 min read
Read on Twitter
Oh my God.
We didn't start calling them conservative in response to your flopsweat tweets this week. We've been calling them conservative for decades. You'd know that if you ever read anything.
Fine, let's dig in.
We didn't start calling them conservative in response to your flopsweat tweets this week. We've been calling them conservative for decades. You'd know that if you ever read anything.
Fine, let's dig in.
You know who thought Southern Democrats were conservative?
The head of the Republican National Committee, who went down to Birmingham in 1952 to make the case that the Dixiecrats had a natural home in the GOP and should switch.
The head of the Republican National Committee, who went down to Birmingham in 1952 to make the case that the Dixiecrats had a natural home in the GOP and should switch.
You know who else thought Southern Democrats were conservative?
William F. Buckley, who welcomed the switch of Dixiecrat presidential candidate Strom Thurmond to the GOP in September 1964 and hoped that other "conservative-minded Democrats" from the region would follow him.
William F. Buckley, who welcomed the switch of Dixiecrat presidential candidate Strom Thurmond to the GOP in September 1964 and hoped that other "conservative-minded Democrats" from the region would follow him.
You know who else thought Southern Democrats were conservative?
Liberal groups like the ADA. Check their ratings for any year here.
adaction.org/ada-voting-rec…
Liberal groups like the ADA. Check their ratings for any year here.
adaction.org/ada-voting-rec…
Take a look at 1965, when most of the Great Society legislation was voted on.
Very liberal is a 100 in the ADA scale, very conservative is a zero. A half dozen Southern Democrats get a zero, while a half dozen more are in the low teens or single digits.
Very liberal is a 100 in the ADA scale, very conservative is a zero. A half dozen Southern Democrats get a zero, while a half dozen more are in the low teens or single digits.
As an aside, I'd use the American Conservative Union's rating system but it didn't start until 1971.
Still, you can see several Southern Dems in the top quarter in 1971, rated as solid conservatives by the ACU. (You know, the group that runs CPAC?)
acuratings.conservative.org/acu-federal-le…
Still, you can see several Southern Dems in the top quarter in 1971, rated as solid conservatives by the ACU. (You know, the group that runs CPAC?)
acuratings.conservative.org/acu-federal-le…
So, the head of the Republican Party and William F. Buckley Jr. and the liberal ADA and the conservative ACU all thought Southern Democrats leaned to the right, but ... you know ... (vague hand gestures)
