I know there's the southern strategy theory, but it's really just a Democrat talking point. The Democrats continued to dominate state and local politics as well as presidential elections until Ronald Reagan in 1980. Eisenhower carried half of the south in 1956 as a Republican. Kennedy did not win the whole south in 1960. Goldwater won 5 states of the 14 that make up the cultural south, a minority of both delegates and total states. Even Hoover (Republican in 1928) won much of the South: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/1928_United_States_president...
This myth that 1964 was some magical year where southern politics flipped is completely made up. In 1976, Jimmy Carter completely swept the South.
Wallace, who split the Democrat vote in 1968 by running as an independent, went back to become a Democrat governor of Alabama. Vast majority of the south had Democrat leadership and congressional representation until the 90s, post Reagan. Clinton and Gore, both southern.
I can go on and on... Republican party never opposed the CRA. Goldwater was an outsider, a libertarian leaning Republican.
"He lobbied for homosexuals to be able to serve openly in the military, opposed the Clinton administration's plan for health care reform, and supported abortion rights and the legalization of medicinal marijuana."
Goldwater opposed CRA on principle but the majority of the Republican party voted for it, with 136 for and 36 against (in fact, more Dems voted against than Repubs):
I have no argument that Democrats kept winning elections in the South. As I said in the post you are replying to "The "flip" everyone is talking about isn't voting patterns, it is on policy."
It's been adopted as a core part of the broader conservative movement for a long time. Conservatives were at one point of sort of red headed stepchild in the mainstream, "Chamber of Commerce" or Eisenhower GOP. I grew up on a farm listening to Rush Limbaugh all summer in the 90s, they talked about it constantly. Reagan was the big hero, Goldwater and to a lesser extent Nixon were the minor heroes of the past. As the WW2 generation started retiring and dying, the next cohorts of GOP folks were more conservative than traditional republican.
At the same time, alot of the old-style conservative democrats started shifting as the old political machines started breaking down. The stereotype union, Irish, Italian and Polish guys (cops, construction, etc), fed a steady diet of talk radio in the truck, started going more republican.
This myth that 1964 was some magical year where southern politics flipped is completely made up. In 1976, Jimmy Carter completely swept the South.
Wallace, who split the Democrat vote in 1968 by running as an independent, went back to become a Democrat governor of Alabama. Vast majority of the south had Democrat leadership and congressional representation until the 90s, post Reagan. Clinton and Gore, both southern.
Georgia, had Democrats for governor until 2003: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_governors_of_Georgia
Florida, mostly Democrat governors until 1999: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_governors_of_Florida
Alabama blue until 1987: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_governors_of_Alabama
Mississippi blue until 1992: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_governors_of_Mississ...
I can go on and on... Republican party never opposed the CRA. Goldwater was an outsider, a libertarian leaning Republican. "He lobbied for homosexuals to be able to serve openly in the military, opposed the Clinton administration's plan for health care reform, and supported abortion rights and the legalization of medicinal marijuana."
Goldwater opposed CRA on principle but the majority of the Republican party voted for it, with 136 for and 36 against (in fact, more Dems voted against than Repubs):
https://www.govtrack.us/congress/votes/88-1964/h182