Today in history- 1964

[harbest]

In the civil rights movement Republicans and democrats actually were in agreement.

"Landslide Lyndon" needed most if not all the Republicans to get the Civil Rights bill passed. The south was a hell of a lot different than what it is today.

 

[ao5884]

Yes it was it was a democratic oarty stronghold and remained so for 3 decades. Thats my point the south flipping because of the CRA doesnt hold water.

 

[ao5884]

Name a Dem who won the southern vote for President from 1972 on other than Jimmy Carter

The House of representatives is a better indicator because its not bound by the electoral college Nixon, Reagan, and Bush won by absolute landslides. Which is an indicator that something else motivating the elections. The fact that congressional seats in the south remained overwhelmingly democratic also suggests that.

 

[The Spin Meister]

No my intent is to show that the 1964 resulted in a party flip is a myth. The facts are the following the Civil rights the south remained democratic for 3 decades this is backed up by election results....i purposely used the house since it is more representative of the peopl. You can see the change happen in 1994. Guess what also happened that year....the contract with America.

Good discussion. True the south was solid D for decades. Also true that very few people switched registration from D to R, especially the politicians. But there were a couple other issues that caused the south to flip.
The biggest is whole house air conditioning. Made living in the south much more possible. Combine that with the collapse of the steel and domestic auto industries in the 70s and 80s. Those combined to initiate a mass exodus of people from W Pa, Oh, and WV to the south in search of jobs and warmer weather. Go to Charlotte....seems like half the people there are northern disporia.
Also, Reagan put tariffs on foreign cars and just about every foreign auto manufacturer built plants in the south to avoid the tariffs, creating a huge number of jobs.
Another impetus for the immigration was that the winters in the 70s were quite severe. And because of the newly formed OPEC, energy prices were punitive and heating bills horrendous. The south had cheap electricity because of the TVA subsidies and the warmer weather people wanted.
Because of air conditioning, the south became the favorite retirement destination. Florida and all shore areas exploded with retired yanks.
This huge population boom had possibly more affect on southern voting trends then the CVA.