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@paplanner13 @Will_Bunch @GOP Nixon: Southern Strategy --> Reagan/GHWB: Lee Atwater
Atwater, interviewed by A. Lemis:
"You start out in 1954 by saying, 'Nigger, nigger, nigger'. By 1968 you can't say 'nigger'—that hurts you. Backfires. So you say stuff like forced busing, states' rights and all that stuff."
Atwater, interviewed by A. Lemis:
"You start out in 1954 by saying, 'Nigger, nigger, nigger'. By 1968 you can't say 'nigger'—that hurts you. Backfires. So you say stuff like forced busing, states' rights and all that stuff."
@paplanner13 @Will_Bunch @GOP Atwater interview, continued: "You follow me—because obviously sitting around saying, 'We want to cut this', is much more abstract than even the busing thing, and a hell of a lot more abstract than 'Nigger, nigger'. So, any way you look at it, race is coming on the backbone."
@paplanner13 @Will_Bunch @GOP Newt rises to prominence after Atwater dies. During this period, the right-wing mass media gain steam, continuing throughout GWB.
After Obama elected--->Tea Party, want budget cuts, complain of government overreach (refer back to the Atwater interview about connection to race)
After Obama elected--->Tea Party, want budget cuts, complain of government overreach (refer back to the Atwater interview about connection to race)
@paplanner13 @Will_Bunch @GOP GOP base driven so far right (per Atwater, based on stand-ins for race) that primaries become purity tests, elected members not toeing the line are ostracized by RW media & colleagues for any deviation. Along comes Trump, and the party finds itself (contentedly) in the pit it dug
