I've wondered this.
When I wrote my 22-tweet history of the Republican Party (which I can attach in the next tweet), it occurred to me that the KKK-white supremacist bloc has influenced so much in the course of US history.
Back when only white men voted . . .
When I wrote my 22-tweet history of the Republican Party (which I can attach in the next tweet), it occurred to me that the KKK-white supremacist bloc has influenced so much in the course of US history.
Back when only white men voted . . .
. . . those voters who advocated minority rights were few in numbers. They were the ones who protested Jackson's treatment of the Native people and became abolitionists.
We think of them as concentrated in the Confederacy, but in fact . . .
We think of them as concentrated in the Confederacy, but in fact . . .
. . . what we might call right wing authoritarians or Hofstadter's "paranoid style" were spread out over both parties.
After the changes in the 1950s and 1960s they became concentrated in the GOP.
For a while the GOP was an uneasy alliance between conservatives . . .
After the changes in the 1950s and 1960s they became concentrated in the GOP.
For a while the GOP was an uneasy alliance between conservatives . . .
. . . and right wing authoritarians (RWAs). Conservatives winked at RWAs to get their votes and tolerated them in the party.
Now they've taken over the GOP.
If the Conservatives wrest it back, will they still tolerate them in the party?
Will the RWAs form their own party?
Now they've taken over the GOP.
If the Conservatives wrest it back, will they still tolerate them in the party?
Will the RWAs form their own party?
We've had periods in American history when we've had one dominant party (the Democratic-Republicans after the Federalists flamed out, for example) but as long as we have the electoral college, having 3 parties creates a problem because if no single candidate or president . . .
. . . gets an electoral majority, the House picks the president.
Somehow I can't see that going well.
It's good question. I have a feeling we're in for another party realignment in the next decade.
I agree with 👇RWAs will keep exerting power.
Somehow I can't see that going well.
It's good question. I have a feeling we're in for another party realignment in the next decade.
I agree with 👇RWAs will keep exerting power.
*should have been candidate for president, not "or president"
