Democrat leaves party, joins Republicans
Foe
Donna Evleth
> From: Foe <foeha...@yahoo.com>
> Organization: http://groups.google.com
> Newsgroups: alt.activism.death-penalty
> Date: Wed, 23 Dec 2009 06:11:23 -0800 (PST)
> Subject: Democrat leaves party, joins Republicans
>
> http://www.politicsdaily.com/2009/12/22/alabama-democrat-parker-griffith-switc
> hing-to-republican-party/2
He's from the Deep South. It figures.
Donna Evleth
M'Balz Es-Hari
news:C7583772.84ADD%dev...@wanadoo.fr...
And how is he any different than Arlen Sphincter?
(other than not being from the south)
Madame Soularde Babbling In Her Gin
<<
http://www.politicsdaily.com/2009/12/22/alabama-democrat-parker-griff...
hing-to-republican-party/2
>>
<He's from the Deep South. It figures.
Donna Evleth>
The pseudo intellectual and self proclaimed "historian" fails to do
her research again.
Griffin represents the 5th Congressional district of Alabma which has
been held by a DemocRAT for 140 years.
Donna Evleth
> From: "M'Balz Es-Hari" <texa...@hotmail.com>
> Organization: A noiseless patient Spider
> Newsgroups: alt.activism.death-penalty
> Date: Wed, 23 Dec 2009 19:13:29 -0600
> Subject: Re: Democrat leaves party, joins Republicans
The Deep South was the point, actually. It is one of the most conservative
parts of the country and thus Parker Griffith would surely feel more at home
as a Republican there.
Arlen Spector (cutesy distortion dropped, with disgust) is from a blue
state, Pennsylvania, thus would feel more at home as a Democrat there.
Both of these switches reflect a growing regional polarization.
Donna Evleth
>
>
Foe
Well I guess that 'figures' huh?
;>)
Donna Evleth
> From: Foe <foeha...@yahoo.com>
> Organization: http://groups.google.com
> Newsgroups: alt.activism.death-penalty
> Date: Thu, 24 Dec 2009 04:35:24 -0800 (PST)
> Subject: Re: Democrat leaves party, joins Republicans
>
> On Dec 24, 2:34锟絘m, Madame Soularde Babbling In Her Gin
> <pjdnvn...@gmail.com> wrote:
>> <<
>> 锟絟ttp://www.politicsdaily.com/2009/12/22/alabama-democrat-parker-griff...
>> 锟絟ing-to-republican-party/2
>>
>>
>>
>> <He's from the Deep South. 锟絀t figures.
>>
>> Donna Evleth>
>>
>> The pseudo intellectual and self proclaimed "historian" fails to do
>> her research again.
>>
>> Griffin represents the 5th Congressional district of Alabma which has
>> been held by a DemocRAT for 140 years.
>
> Well I guess that 'figures' huh?
> ;>)
Republicans in Alabama are now what "Southern Democrats" used to be for a
long period, following the Civil War, when Republicans were viewed as
carpetbaggers. PJ didn't bother to mention that. That "figures".
Wikipedia gives this history of "Southern Democrats":
Southern Democrats are members of the U.S. Democratic Party who reside in
the American South. In the early 1800s, they were the definitive pro-slavery
wing of the party, opposed to both the anti-slavery Republicans (GOP) and
the more liberal Northern Democrats. After losing control of their party and
territory in the American Civil War, and during the Republican-led
Reconstruction that followed, Southern Democrats regrouped into various
vigilante organizations such as the Ku Klux Klan and the White League.
Eventually "Redemption" was finalized in the Compromise of 1877 and the
Redeemers gained control throughout the South. As the New Deal began to
liberalize Democrats as a whole, Southern Democrats largely stayed as
conservative as they had always been, with some even breaking off to form
farther right-wing splinters like the Dixiecrats. After the Civil Rights
Movement successfully challenged the Jim Crow laws and other forms of
institutionalized racism, and after the Democrats as a whole came to
symbolize the mainstream left of the United States, the form, if not the
content, of Southern Democratic politics began to change. At that point,
most Southern Democrats defected to the Republican Party, and helped
accelerate the latter's transformation into a more conservative
organization.
After World War II, during the civil rights movement, Democrats in the South
initially still voted loyally with their party. The signing of the Civil
Rights Act of 1964, however, was the last straw for many Southern Democrats,
who began voting against Democratic incumbents for GOP candidates. The
Republicans carried many Southern states for the first time since before the
Great Depression.
When Richard Nixon courted voters with his Southern Strategy, many Democrats
became Republicans and the South became fertile ground for the GOP, which
conversely was becoming more conservative as the Democrats were becoming
more liberal. However, Democratic incumbents still held sway over voters in
many states, especially those of the Deep South. In fact, until the 1980s,
Democrats still had much control over Southern politics. It wasn't until the
1990s that Democratic control collapsed, starting with the elections of
1994, in which Republicans gained control of both houses of Congress,
through the rest of the decade. Southern Democrats of today who vote the
Democratic ticket are mostly urban liberals. Rural residents tend to vote
the Republican ticket, although there are a sizable number of conservative
Democrats.
A huge portion of Representatives, Senators, and voters who were referred to
as Reagan Democrats in the 1980s were conservative Southern Democrats. An
interesting exception to this trend is Arkansas, where to this day all
statewide elected officials are Democrats (Although the state has given its
electoral votes to the GOP in the past three Presidential elections. In 1992
and 1996, "favorite son" Bill Clinton was the candidate and won each time).
The Democratic Party still has a strong presence in Louisiana also, though
Republicans have made notable progress there in recent years, most notably
with the election of Senator David Vitter in 2004. Another exception is
North Carolina. Despite the fact that the state has voted for Republicans in
every presidential election from 1980 until 2004 (the state did however turn
blue in 2008), the governorship, legislature, as well as most statewide
offices remain in Democratic control, and with the election of Heath Shuler
in 2006, the congressional delegation once again is majority Democratic.
Today, Southern Democrats are conservative Democrats who follow the
principles of strong foreign policy, fiscal responsibility and support for
legislating traditional values.
Maybe you shouldn't take PJ as the last word on history.
Merry Christmas anyway.
Donna Evleth