The Conservative movement was politically in the wilderness during the long postwar period. If a Republican got near office he had to be a centrist like Eisenhower or Nixon. Meaning: he tacitly (if not rhetorically) accepted the New Deal and Big Government. (Remember FDR created a very powerful coalition out of middle class people across the nation, including the South and heartland whom he delivered many favors to)
Barry Goldwater wanted to unmake the great postwar consensus for big government. He wanted to break the New Deal coalition which had Washington in lockdown. He represented a growing movement of conservatives who wanted to rebuild a grand conservative movement - one that did not compromise with the left. Unfortunately for Goldwater, America wasn't quite ready. And one big reason was because the south was solidly blue. (Dixiecrats > "The Solid South")
And then LBJ signed the Civil Rights Bill.
A door opened.
The Conservative Movement created the "Southern Strategy" by capitalizing on white backlash against intrusive federalism. The strategy worked. Reagan flipped the south and the GOP has not looked back since. But the right didn't stop at Civil Rights backlash, rather, they enlarged their appeal to backlash against all "non-traditional" Americans. They blew the dog whistle and called all the bigots home. They gave a home not just to racists, but anyone who hated latinos, jews, blacks, Muslims, gays, etc. They exploited white suburban angst over the sixties social movements (hippies, bra burners, anti-war students, progressive lifestyles). The Right gave a home to any white person who was not happy with non-whites & non-christians & any non-traditional American. They built a party of exclusion and fear-of-the-other. They separated our great country into "Real Americans" and non-Real Americans. They divided people. They instigated fear and manipulated good citizens who did not have the education to question their politics of demonization.
Fast forward to the 2012 election. A ham sandwich could have beaten Obama with this economy. But the Rightwing pundits quietly preached against latinos, and they have for several elections tried to move blacks off the voting rolls. In Arizona they stop people with brown skin as if it were Nazi Germany ...looking for jews. When America was mostly a white nation, this kind of shit worked. The GOP won elections for 30 years on the backs of hateful, scared, bigoted morons. But now, the groups that the GOP has been demonizing are large enough to tilt the outcome of an election. And these groups represent the fastest growing demographics in the nation. And let's not even talk about women and the forced ultra sound. And forcing them to carry their rapist baby to term.
You cannot win a national election by treating large voting blocks like they are not real Americans.
The Conservative Movement cannot win without latinos and blacks. Granted, they lie to old people about their true intentions for medicare, but it's impossible to lie to everybody. Look what happened to Romney? He had to disown the primaries when he accosted Rick Parry for educating and providing medical services to poor latino children.
You can't win a national election any more by praying on the fears of whites. Hate doesn't get it done anymore. This is why Karl Rove and George Bush had a latino outreach program. This is why Bush ran to the Left on immigration. bush and Rover understood that you can't win an election by alienating non-whites.
When is the Right going to kick out the Tea Party and the bigots and the morons? They forced black people in Miami to stand in line over night. This doesn't work anymore.
When are they going to take back their party?
When Bill O'Reilly demonizes latinos before an election, he is losing needed votes. When he accuses latinos of being lazy and voting for any candidate who give them more stuff, he is shitting on real human beings, many of whom work hard.
Barry Goldwater wanted to unmake the great postwar consensus for big government. He wanted to break the New Deal coalition which had Washington in lockdown. He represented a growing movement of conservatives who wanted to rebuild a grand conservative movement - one that did not compromise with the left. Unfortunately for Goldwater, America wasn't quite ready. And one big reason was because the south was solidly blue. (Dixiecrats > "The Solid South")
And then LBJ signed the Civil Rights Bill.
A door opened.
The Conservative Movement created the "Southern Strategy" by capitalizing on white backlash against intrusive federalism. The strategy worked. Reagan flipped the south and the GOP has not looked back since. But the right didn't stop at Civil Rights backlash, rather, they enlarged their appeal to backlash against all "non-traditional" Americans. They blew the dog whistle and called all the bigots home. They gave a home not just to racists, but anyone who hated latinos, jews, blacks, Muslims, gays, etc. They exploited white suburban angst over the sixties social movements (hippies, bra burners, anti-war students, progressive lifestyles). The Right gave a home to any white person who was not happy with non-whites & non-christians & any non-traditional American. They built a party of exclusion and fear-of-the-other. They separated our great country into "Real Americans" and non-Real Americans. They divided people. They instigated fear and manipulated good citizens who did not have the education to question their politics of demonization.
Fast forward to the 2012 election. A ham sandwich could have beaten Obama with this economy. But the Rightwing pundits quietly preached against latinos, and they have for several elections tried to move blacks off the voting rolls. In Arizona they stop people with brown skin as if it were Nazi Germany ...looking for jews. When America was mostly a white nation, this kind of shit worked. The GOP won elections for 30 years on the backs of hateful, scared, bigoted morons. But now, the groups that the GOP has been demonizing are large enough to tilt the outcome of an election. And these groups represent the fastest growing demographics in the nation. And let's not even talk about women and the forced ultra sound. And forcing them to carry their rapist baby to term.
You cannot win a national election by treating large voting blocks like they are not real Americans.
The Conservative Movement cannot win without latinos and blacks. Granted, they lie to old people about their true intentions for medicare, but it's impossible to lie to everybody. Look what happened to Romney? He had to disown the primaries when he accosted Rick Parry for educating and providing medical services to poor latino children.
You can't win a national election any more by praying on the fears of whites. Hate doesn't get it done anymore. This is why Karl Rove and George Bush had a latino outreach program. This is why Bush ran to the Left on immigration. bush and Rover understood that you can't win an election by alienating non-whites.
When is the Right going to kick out the Tea Party and the bigots and the morons? They forced black people in Miami to stand in line over night. This doesn't work anymore.
When are they going to take back their party?
When Bill O'Reilly demonizes latinos before an election, he is losing needed votes. When he accuses latinos of being lazy and voting for any candidate who give them more stuff, he is shitting on real human beings, many of whom work hard.
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