The Making of a Southern Republican
Last week I sat down for an Uncommon Knowledge interview with Peter Robinson during which he asked what possessed me to become a Republican in 1968, when the South was still solidly Democratic.
My oldest brother came home from the Army a Goldwater Republican in 1965, and in spring of 1968, he ran for mayor of Yazoo City, Mississippi. He quit his job at the bank, and because the Republicans didn’t even have a line on the ballot, he had to run as an Independent. We had to get a petition going so that he could make it on the ballot. I thoroughly enjoyed that experience, so I dropped out of Ole Miss the fall of my senior year to go work on the Nixon presidential campaign.
To be a Republican in Mississippi in 1968, you really had to take a long view! The first time I ever saw a poll was during the 1968 campaign. That year, six percent of Mississippians identified themselves as Republicans – six percent! Nixon didn’t do well in Mississippi that year because George Wallace, the third party candidate, was hugely popular in the South. But by the 1972 elections, Mississippi represented the state with the highest percentage of its vote going to Nixon. More importantly, the 1972 elections resulted in the election of two young Republican Congressmen: Trent Lott and Thad Cochran, who both became giants in the Senate. Today, we not only have a Republican governor, but seven of our eight state elected officials are Republicans, as are both of our United States Senators.
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Re: The Making of a Southern Republican
Governor, your story gives my optimism that we can reverse Obamanomics, get the economy growing like gangbusters again, and escape the economic coffin corner of increasing debt and decreasing growth that will otherwise destroy our society.
Six percent! Wow.
May '10
Re: The Making of a Southern Republican
When modern Lefties snark about "bigoted Southern Republicans," I'm often moved to tell them about my grandfather. He was a Republican in rural Alabama in an era--the first third of the last century--when that party affiliation alone would get the Klan on your lawn. When I'm really provoked, I tell them about how my Republican parents brought me out to campaign rallies when I was very young, to work against a Democrat named George Wallace.
They rarely have any legible response.
Edited on Aug 23, 2010 at 3:49pmJun '10
Re: The Making of a Southern Republican
I think, when the National Democrat leadership became hostile, or was at least perceived to be hostile, to the Bible-centered life, they lost their lock on the South forever. A lot of people think (or pretend) the realignment was all about race, but I think it was more about the disrespect for traditional Christianity.
Aug '10
Re: The Making of a Southern Republican
I think they say " Well, God Bless You Son !"
Common sense will rise again.
Jun '10
Re: The Making of a Southern Republican
Governor,
Thank you so much for your good work.
Like many of my fellow ricochetians, I've heard the leftist drivel about the South's turning to Republicans because of racism more often than I can bear. So I'd like to ask you: what did account for the change? How much of a factor was what etoiledunord called 'the disrespect for traditional Christianity'? Did opposition to Johnson's Great Society play a role? How about anti-communism? What role did race really play in the realignment? And what other factors are there, things that a northerner like me simply knows nothing about?
Jul '10
Re: The Making of a Southern Republican
Trent Lott?
Trent Lott?
Feb '10
Re: The Making of a Southern Republican
Thanks for this encouragement.
In this age of short attention spans, when each election is "the most important in our lifetimes," I heartily endorse taking the long view. It's not done nearly enough. Why can't we, like certain native tribes, try to think about what effects our actions will have down to the seventh generation after us? Because we live in a culture of fast-paced change? There are still things that don't change. There are still long-term perspectives that are valuable and useful for today.
In our short-term view, there is no way we can effect large changes on the trends already set in motion. But in the long view, political winds shift, the tide turns, and black swans do appear from time to time. Often these occur only after much quiet groundwork has been laid patiently by those setting the next trend, invisible beneath the movements of the current trend.
A short term view leads to merely reacting to changes as they happen. The long view may well let you set those changes in motion.
May '10
Re: The Making of a Southern Republican
Busy System Admin
In this age of short attention spans, when each election is "the most important in our lifetimes," I heartily endorse taking the long view. It's not done nearly enough.....
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A short term view leads to merely reacting to changes as they happen. The long view may well let you set those changes in motion. · Aug 23 at 7:52pm
And that is precisely why term limits are so important (and, hence, so hopeless)- because Congress will never focus on anything other than the next re-election.