Random Thoughts
There goes the South – Part 7
September 21, 2018
As we have seen, the 11 states of the Old Confederacy were staunch supporters of the Democratic Party for years until some Democrats began to advocate civil rights legislation.
Democratic presidential candidates Harry Truman in 1948 and John Kennedy in 1960 did not receive as many southern Electoral College votes as Franklin Roosevelt did in his four electoral victories.
By 1968 the Democratic candidate, Vice President Hubert Humphrey, carried only one Confederate state. Had he received as many southern electoral votes as Roosevelt did, Humphrey would have been elected.
To help counter the loss of southern support, Democrats began nominating southerners for president. Between 1976 and 2000, five of the seven Democratic nominees were from Confederate states.
Jimmy Carter of Georgia won one election (1976) but lost another (1980). Bill Clinton of Arkansas won both of his elections – 1992 and 1996. Al Gore of Tennessee barely lost the disputed election of 2000.
The outcome of the 2000 election hinged upon the popular vote totals in Florida. Once Gore’s opponent, George W. Bush, was awarded Florida’s 25 electoral votes, Bush carried the Electoral College 271 to 267. Had Gore won Florida, he would have prevailed 292 to 246.
The situation was even worse than that for the Democratic nominee, however, because Gore carried none of the Old Confederate states! Had he won any of them, he would have won the electoral vote.
The conversion of the Solid South from Democratic to Republican was complete – just as President Lyndon Johnson had predicted.
A lack of electoral votes from southern states also cost the Democrats the elections of 2004 when John Kerry won no Confederate states and 2016 when Hillary Clinton carried only one.
But support for civil rights has hurt the Democratic Party beyond presidential elections. For example at the present time Republicans control the U.S. Senate 51 to 49.
In the Roosevelt era all 22 southern senators were Democrats. Today only four are Democrats and 18 are Republicans. If all 22 were Democrats, that party would control the Senate 67-33!
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