dagblog - Comments for "Losing the North: Republican Realignment"

As an add to this...

oldenGoldenDecoy — Thu, 07 Jul 2016 21:32:48 +0000

In reply to Losing the North: Republican Realignment

As an add to this...

Great post Doc. To place the polls in perspective.

Take a look over here at my latest post.

Presidential Race: Psephology Does Not Rely Psychological Punditry

~OGD~

Given your long memory you

Flavius — Wed, 06 Jul 2016 12:11:37 +0000

In reply to Losing the North: Republican Realignment

Given your long memory you must recall when political wisdom held

As Maine goes ,so goes the nation

UntiI 1936 when wags replaced that by

As Maine goes, so goes Vermont

Thanks, Michael. Yes, New

Doctor Cleveland — Wed, 06 Jul 2016 03:29:25 +0000

In reply to This is a really interesting

Thanks, Michael. Yes, New England isn't the only heartland of the old Republican Party. I picked on Vermont and Maine because they're small and particularly clear examples.

Your point about movement-conservative insurgents using primaries for an electoral purge is a good one. But when you purge all the elected liberal Republicans the unelected liberal Republicans, the voters, need someplace to go.

Bob LaFollette wouldn't be in the Wisconsin Republican Party today. Not in Scott Walker's party. He'd end up as a Democrat or Independent, but would likely be pretty much the same guy.

This is a really interesting

Michael Wolraich — Tue, 05 Jul 2016 20:51:22 +0000

In reply to Losing the North: Republican Realignment

This is a really interesting piece, Doc, thanks. Your point about cultural incompatibility is astute, but I would add another factor: factional politics. The GOP used to include many left-leaning Republicans like Jeffords, particularly in the northeast but not exclusively; this extinct species could also be found in midwestern prairies and all along the Pacific coast. Some died off or moved on, but many were deliberately purged in primary challenges by conservative insurgents battling for the control of the party. Historically, American political parties have encompassed quite diverse constituencies, such as FDR's new deal coalition. So I don't think that the old northern Republicans were inherently incompatible with the new southern Republicans. Rather, conservative insurgents exploited the cultural gap to drum the northerners out. They may have lost Vermont, but they gained a bigger prize: the Republican Party itself.