I am still a registered Democrat, but it has been awhile since I have thought of myself as one. — jgill
I can't really talk about the Dems, but I have the impression that the Dems, back in the day, were an alliance of (mainly social) liberals and political left wingers; there was also a lot of support in the South, which goes back to the civil war. If that's true, there's a very similar phenomenon in the UK. The Labour party has always been a rather uneasy alliance between those two points of view. It's not unreasonable, because both were in opposition to existing orthodoxy, just on rather different grounds and with rather different aims.Same here. It's the Dems who changed, not me. — fishfry
I can't really talk about the Dems, but I have the impression that the Dems, back in the day, were an alliance of (mainly social) liberals and political left wingers — Ludwig V
During this period, the white-dominated Democratic Party maintained political control of the South. With whites controlling all the seats representing the total population of the South, they had a powerful voting bloc in Congress. The Republican Party—the "party of Lincoln" and the party to which most blacks had belonged—shrank to insignificance except in remote Unionist areas of Appalachia and the Ozarks as black voter registration was suppressed. The Republican lily-white movement also gained strength by excluding blacks. Until 1965, the "Solid South" was a one-party system under the white Democrats.
Yes. I knew that. I'm sorry I wasn't clear.Far from it. I grew up in a segregated South and the Democratic party supported that. Political winds finally shifted during the 1960s. — jgill
I remember reading about that. Some of us thought there would be another civil war. I don't remember the reports saying that people cheered when Wallace gave in. That very good to know. It was also my first year at University. Do you think the cannon was a protest or a celebration? Presumably, it didn't have a ball, but was loaded blank?I was in a math class at the University of Alabama in 1963 when Governor Wallace was asked to step aside and allow two Afro-American students to enroll. He complied and those of us on the sidelines cheered. An old Confederate cannon went off at the time, but I can find no reference to that. — jgill
I was almost completely apolitical. That didn't change until 1968. Remembering those terrible yet exciting times makes me a bit less worried now.My first vote for President was the 1960 election, and I caste my ballot for JFK. He had been a genuine war hero, and when he extended my tour in the USAF for a year because the Berlin Wall was going up I forgave him. Turned out it worked out well for me. — jgill
Do you (two) think that I'm talking rubbish, or does this fit with what has happened to you? — Ludwig V
Do you think the cannon was a protest or a celebration? Presumably, it didn't have a ball, but was loaded blank? — Ludwig V
Thank you. That may be short, but it gets to what I was trying to say. And then I was trying to say that Labour has exactly the same problem. The working class, represented within the party by the unions, used to be represented by Democrats/Labour. But, since around 1980 (Thatcher/Reagan), that has gradually declined (basically, I think, as the power of the unions declined). The assumption was always that the working class would align with the poor and socially liberal ways, but that was simply false. Many of the working class do not think of themselves as poor and are certainly not socially liberal, and they basically have nowhere to go. Mind you, another dimension of the problem is that most people are not only reluctant to think of themselves as poor, but also reluctant to think of themselves as working class.The Democrats used to be the party of the working class. They've become the party of the wealthy liberal elites and the poor who benefit from government services. — fishfry
Good Lord! You'll be wanting to abolish the Monarchy next! That's not how we do things here! We don't abolish things! The two Houses started in 1341! How could they be abolished? Tradition, you know!In other news from merry old England, I hear Labour has it in for the House of Lords.
Don’t ‘reform’ the Lords – abolish it — fishfry
I had no idea. I don't recall the Klan being even mentioned in the coverage here.Most people at the University disapproved of the Klan, and there had been some speculation the KKK might get ugly, but they backed off and were more or less silent. — jgill
I bet you were. I don't suppose you ever had a chance to talk with him about what happened. Likely, he just wants to forget it.I was astounded in the transformation. — jgill
The Democratic Party has changed significantly during its more than two centuries of existence. During the 19th century the party supported or tolerated slavery, and it opposed civil rights reforms after the American Civil War in order to retain the support of Southern voters. By the mid-20th century it had undergone a dramatic ideological realignment and reinvented itself as a party supporting organized labor, the civil rights of minorities, and progressive reform
Do you agree with fishfry about what the party has become?The Democrats used to be the party of the working class. They've become the party of the wealthy liberal elites and the poor who benefit from government services. — fishfry
So the mid-20th century party is the one you joined? — Ludwig V
Do you agree with fishfry about what the party has become? — Ludwig V
That's politics for you. But I always understood that he was very effective (more effective than JFK?) in getting Civil Rights legislation through.LBJ began his political life in the Senate staunchly against civil rights legislation, but reversed his position as the tides began to turn. — jgill
I think the problem of our times is that the left wing isn't clear what it's about. So many goals were achieved and the fall of the USSR was taken as "disproving" socialism. The right, these days, at least knows what it's about - and is much more ruthless in fighting for it. The left can't form a united front or articulate a coherent ideology.More or less. Frankly, I don't know what it has become since the "Squad" gained influence. — jgill
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