| Crom said:
I already explained that the whole Democrat becoming Republicans nonsense was simple not true. The overwhelming majority of Dixiecrats went back to the Democrat party after it failed. Also the South kept voting democrat for decades after the Civil Rights Act was passed. For decades almost every member of the House of Representatives from the South were Democrats.
About Goldwater. He was a staunch supporter of Civil Rights (his record shows that) but, on principle, he disagreed with the idea of Federal government intervention regarding this matter. “His stance was based on his view that the act was an intrusion of the federal government into the affairs of states and, second, that the Act interfered with the rights of private persons to do business, or not, with whomever they chose. Goldwater had problems with title II and title VII of the 1964 bill. He felt that constitutionally the federal government had no legal right to interfere in who people hired, fired; or to whom they sold their products, goods and services. He felt that “power” laid in the various states, and with the people. He was a strong advocate of the tenth amendment. Goldwater’s constitutional stance did not mean he agreed with the segregation and racial discrimination practiced in the South. To the contrary, he fought against these kinds of racial divides in his own state of Arizona. He supported the integration of the Arizona National guard and Phoenix public schools. Goldwater was, also, a member of the NAACP and the Urban League. Goldwater was one of theose Ron Paul type of guys when it came to this stuff.
Anyway speaking of Civil Rights, since 1933, Republicans had a more positive record on civil rights than the Democrats. In the twenty-six major civil rights votes since 1933, a majority of Democrats opposed civil rights legislation in over 80 % of the votes. By contrast, the Republican majority favored civil rights in over 96 % of the votes.
Give me a break on Lyndon Johnson. He was quoted as saying "We will have the n*****s voting democrat for 200 years" That was Johnson's interest in the whole Civil Rights Act.....getting the black vote. He had to depend on Republicans to get it passed while his party (that was historically against Civil Rights) reaped the benefits because citizens look at which party holds the presidency...not the Senate or House.
Some of you need to learn your history. No offense. |
Just to be clear, I'm talking about the movement of the electorate away from the Democratic party in presidential elections. I focused on this because you mentioned Carter's victory in 1976. You're essentially cherry picking an election to try and prove a point that just isn't true and is actually irrelevant to your argument. The fact is....there has been a mass migration of white voters (particularly the upper class) away from Democratic presidential candidates and the Democratic party in the South.
The problem is you're making an argument that Republicans had a better record on civil rights than Democrats......which I highly question. The dominant causal factor is region, not party (I really want to emphasize this point). If you look, Southern Democrats and Southern Republicans were both much more anti-civil rights than northerners. It just so happened there was a larger portion of Democrats in the South. Also, the Civil Rights Act passed on the back of northern support from both Dems. and Reps.....not just Republican members.
As for Goldwater's or Johnson's true beliefs, its really irrelevant. Have you ever talked to a politician? They all have agendas and will justify their arguments in whatever way they see fit....I mean they're pretty much pathological liars, but that's another discussion. That said, I'd take Goldwater's justifications with a grain of salt. The fact is, the voting electorate, interpreted it a different way, as can be seen with blacks supporting the Democrats at about a 90% clip, as well as the movement of white southeners away from the Democratic party.
Personally, I think the more likely reason for Johnson and Goldwater splitting on the issue is political strategy.....meaning Johnson and Goldwater both took alternative positions because they thought they could gain an electoral advantage that way. Johnson gambled on civil rights support, and Goldwater tried to gain support from the members who were alienated by that decision.
Now, the point I do agree with you on is the fact that member of Congress continued to call themselves Democrats, however, they weren't really constrained Democrats. They accepted New Deal economic policies but remained socially conservative on race issues (by conservative I mean resistant to change). This is why you saw a good bit of split-ticket voting back in the 1970s....people voting Republican for president and Democratic for the House.
