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The "Republicans were not a force in southern politics" until the South actually became contestable, yes. But they did not "embrace racist tactics" other than

The "Republicans were not a force in southern politics" until the South actually became contestable, yes. But they did not "embrace racist tactics" other than perhaps momentarily in the 1970s, at the tail end of the Civil Rights Era. In actual fact, Republicans were always trying all sorts of angles to appeal to southern voters: Barry Goldwater's campaigning was quite different from Nixon's, for example. The suggestion that Republicans were uniformly "against modernization", and even more so, that this was also true in the 1980s, is simply laughable when one looks at the actual history of that time. Edit: And the Republicans of Lincoln's day were defining their stances in opposition to the Democrats, who were largely agrarian and in favor of local control by the purportedly-virtuous "little guy", against broad economic modernization that would deprive the little guy of his livelihood and make him a sort of 'wage slave' of corrupt industry. You can phrase it as "the Republicans were on the left" if you like, but that's really pushing it.

youdontknowtho 7y ago
I actually wrote a much longer reply that I was going to post, but maybe it's easier if I just give you the point you are looking for. I don't want an open exchange of ideas. I think that the Republican party is a cancer on the body politic. I grew up in an almost 100% R state. You won't change my mind. I'm not a Democrat because I like them. I'm a Democrat because I hate the Republican party. We aren't going to agree to disagree. We are in opposition to one another. That's just life. Can we stop now? Go ahead and say something clever back. You can have the last word.
- 0815test 7y ago
  No, I'm not going to blame you for hating the post-Trump Republican party. I won't even blame you for hating the social milieu that you grew up in - there are many parts of the U.S. that are still quite socially backward, particularly in the Deep South itself, and broad-based, grassroots social/economic development is a slow process. I do have a problem when some people (and, for the record, this isn't about you specifically, either - it's a huge problem!) outright refuse to look at the history and acknowledge the fact that "conservatives" have, in many ways, been on the side of progress, while "progressives" have occasionally been putting forth very misguided ideas and proposals.

youdontknowtho 7y ago

I actually wrote a much longer reply that I was going to post, but maybe it's easier if I just give you the point you are looking for. I don't want an open exchange of ideas. I think that the Republican party is a cancer on the body politic. I grew up in an almost 100% R state. You won't change my mind. I'm not a Democrat because I like them. I'm a Democrat because I hate the Republican party. We aren't going to agree to disagree. We are in opposition to one another. That's just life. Can we stop now? Go ahead and say something clever back. You can have the last word.

0815test 7y ago
No, I'm not going to blame you for hating the post-Trump Republican party. I won't even blame you for hating the social milieu that you grew up in - there are many parts of the U.S. that are still quite socially backward, particularly in the Deep South itself, and broad-based, grassroots social/economic development is a slow process. I do have a problem when some people (and, for the record, this isn't about you specifically, either - it's a huge problem!) outright refuse to look at the history and acknowledge the fact that "conservatives" have, in many ways, been on the side of progress, while "progressives" have occasionally been putting forth very misguided ideas and proposals.