U.S. "Party-switch" myth

The alleged U.S. "party switch" claim made by liberals and progressives over decades is a political hoax and conspiracy theory that attempts to smear the Republican Party. The narrative, which has been crafted with the help of Communists (who infiltrated the Democrat Party over the decades and who are known to lie, deceive and engage in historical revisionism for the sake of being contrarian), typically assumes that the Democrat and Republican parties "switched sides" during the 1960s, where the Republican Party somehow became the party of "racists" and the Democrats suddenly becoming the "champions of civil rights." Many reputable historians and political scientists such as Carol Swain (see this video) and political commentators such as Bob Parks strongly agree that the parties did not switch sides, as the Democrats only switched strategies with Communist help.

While many modern leftists will note the liberal policies promoted by the Republican establishment for a while during the 1900s that dissipated in the 1960s to promote their myth, it's important to note the conservative roots of the early foundations of the Republican Party, as mentioned below. Leftists also falsely characterize President Dwight D. Eisenhower as a liberal Republican when he tended to favor conservative policies.

Civil Rights Act

See: Civil Rights Act of 1957 and Civil Rights Act of 1964

Map of electoral votes in the 1968 United States presidential election

Liberals often point to Lyndon B. Johnson's so-called advocacy for civil rights to push the myth. This was despite the fact that Johnson worked to water down the 1957 Civil Rights Act, weakening it down by removing the stringent voting protection clauses. It was afterwards that the legislation was passed, which Johnson voted for.

One of the most important aspects of perpetuating this myth is the faux talking point surrounding the response by Southern Dixiecrats to the passage of the 1964 Civil Rights act. The myth involves looking at a map of the 1960 Electoral map and comparing it to the 1964 Electoral map, all while ignoring the results of the 1968 Presidential Electoral map. Aided by leftist historians, one is supposed to see the Democrats winning the South in 1960, losing it in 1964, and concluding that this must be where the "party switch" took place.

For this myth to hold, Republicans should have won the south in as large of numbers in 1968 as in 1964. But they didn't. In the United States presidential election of 1968, Republicans lost almost the entirety of the South. Democrat George Wallace, running on a third party ticket, took a bulk of the Deep South and Republicans even lost Texas to Humphrey.

Additionally, as correctly noted by Dinesh D'Souza, the passage of the Civil Rights Act had greater Republican support than it did Democrat support.

So if there may have been some Southerners upset that the Civil Rights Act passed while blaming Democrats along the way, they would not have chosen as their home the Republican Party, who were the Act's greatest supporters. Of the 171 Republicans in the House in 1964, 136 of them voted for it. Of the 33 Republicans in the Senate, 27 of them voted for it. This is 79% of House Republicans, and 82% of Senate Republicans.

On the Democrat side, 153 of 244 House and 46 of 67 Senate members voted yes. That is 63% of Democrat house members and 69% of Democrat Senate members. These numbers become even more bleak for the "party myth" idea when you compare the yes and no votes from Northern and Southern democrats. Virtually every Southern Democrat voted against the Civil Rights Act, meaning that Southern voters had no reason to punish them. Additionally, while the bill was on the Senate floor it was the subject of filibustering from Southern Democrats for 57 days, the longest filibuster in U.S. history. It was a Northern Republican, Everett Dirksen of Illinois, who broke the filibuster. Dirksen was a noted conservative, along with then-House Minority Leader Charles A. Halleck, a prominent member of the Conservative Coalition who was also an advocate for the legislation. The two became famous during the time, with the Congressional Leadership Statement then being known as "The Ev and Charlie Show".

Democrat Sen. Albert Gore, Sr. fervently opposed the 1964 Civil Rights Act and unsuccessfully sought to weaken the bill.

Barry Goldwater, known for having been a staunch leader of the conservative wing of the Republican Party during the 60s, is often falsely smeared by liberals as a "racist" for having voted against the 1964 Civil Rights Act. Among such, NPR has propagated mischaracterizations of the Arizona senator that have been refuted. In contrast to whitewashing attempts by deceitful leftists, Goldwater was a strong proponent of civil rights, having voted in favor of the 1957 Civil Rights Act. He had also been a member of the NAACP at the time, and his only opposition to the 1964 bill came from his objections to Titles II and VII on a constitutional basis in opposing excessive federal government powers, stating:

"It so happens that I am in agreement with the [anti-racial segregation] objectives of the Supreme Court as stated in the Brown decision. I am not prepared, however, to impose that judgment of mine on the people of Mississippi or South Carolina. . . . That is their business, not mine. I believe that the problem of race relations, like all social and cultural problems, is best handled by the people directly concerned . . . [and] should not be effected by engines of national power."

Note that this represents Goldwater's firm view that federal and state powers as directed by the Constitution and Bill of Rights should be firmly upheld; while liberals claim he was supposedly a "racist", he merely differed from others such as Everett Dirksen in his preferred approach to enacting civil rights. Goldwater furthermore opposed and voted against an amendment introduced by Al Gore, Sr. to weaken the bill, yet liberals attack the Arizona senator rather than Gore despite the latter's record in opposing civil rights.

Southern strategy

For a more detailed treatment, see Southern strategy.

There are several myths surrounding the so called Southern strategy, most notably, out-of-context quotes taken from a taped interview with Lee Atwater. The full context of the interview thoroughly refutes liberal deceit that has been perpetuated by leftists.

Inconsistencies

See also: Liberal logic

Democrat Theodore G. Bilbo was an extremely racist Democrat from Mississippi who blocked anti-lynching legislation and an apologist for racial violence. He was noted as "a real friend of liberal government."

The myth of the parties "switching" is very inconsistent with actual U.S. history. The Republican Party only became much more right-wing during the 1910s, after Theodore Roosevelt and his Republican progressives at the time split with the Taft-supporting conservatives. The Democrat Party arguably (according to some) became much more left-wing during the 1930s during the New Deal coalition era. Progressives who brainwash youth in the modern-day education system erase in history textbooks examples of certain racist liberals such as Hugo Black. They furthermore ignore the fact that many racist Democrats in the 30s were leftists who fervently supported the New Deal, including Theodore Bilbo. It should also be noted liberal Democrat Franklin D. Roosevelt's support came strongest from the Deep South in his election/re-election victories.

With respect to the 1960s and the era when the parties are rumored to have "switched sides" en masse, a review of the senators and governors at the time tells a completely different story. Since the end of Reconstruction in 1874 and 1967, Arkansas had no Republican governors; in the 53 years after 1967, Republicans have only occupied the governorship for 17 years. In fact, since the founding of the GOP until 2020, Republicans have only occupied the governors office in Arkansas for 21 out of 152 years. During the 93 years of an unbroken string of Democrat governors from 1874 until 1967, Democrat terrorists committed at least 237 known lynchings.

It should be noted that the Congressional districts representing eastern Tennessee and northern Arkansas, during the Democrat "Solid South" days, voted reliably Republican and have since before the Civil War; as examples, the two Congressional Districts of Tennessee representing eastern Tennessee have voted Republican in every Congressional election since before the Civil War (with the exception of the 1st District electing a Democrat twice in the 1870's; the 2nd District's voting record is unbroken). This is because both areas were mountainous and thus not suited to plantation farming and the accompanying Democrat slave power. The shift in party loyalty from Democrat to Republican within the rest of the South had no change on party loyalty in these areas; they remain solidly Republican.

Former Sen. James William Fulbright of Arkansas, a noted segregationist, represents many aspects of the modern-day Democratic Party beyond racism; favoring globalist policies, promoting anti-Zionism, and especially becoming increasingly liberal over time. His legacy received the praise of Bill Clinton.

Additionally, below is are tables showing the votes of Southern Democrat senators and congressmen on the Civil Rights Act. Many of those served for years both before and after the Act. Looking at the senators table, only one switched parties, and did so due to disenchantment toward the Democrats over racially-motivated Great Society programs and preference toward big government. Moreover, where Democrats did have their terms in office come to an end, for any number of reasons, their successors were also largely Democrats.

It was not until the Republican Revolution of 1994 that for the first time in modern American History the Republicans held a majority of Southern congressional seats, a full three decades after the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. As the South became less racist, it became more Republican.

Southern Democrat senators
State	Name	Vote	First took office	Left office	Joined Republicans?	Successor's party affiliation
Alabama	J. Lister Hill	Nay	April 26, 1938	January 3, 1969	Never	Democrat
	John Sparkman	Nay	November 6, 1946	January 3, 1979	Never	Democrat
Arkansas	J. William Fulbright	Nay	January 3, 1945	December 31, 1974	Never	Democrat
	John McClellan	Nay	January 3, 1943	November 28, 1977	Never	Democrat
Florida	Spessard Holland	Nay	September 25, 1946	January 3, 1971	Never	Democrat
	George Smathers	Nay	January 3, 1967	January 3, 1969	Never	Democrat
Georgia	Richard Russell	Nay	January 12, 1933	January 21, 1971	Never	Democrat
	Herman Talmadge	Nay	January 3, 1957	January 3, 1981	Never	Republican
Louisiana	Allen J. Ellender	Nay	January 3, 1937	July 27, 1972	Never	Democrat
	Russell Long	Nay	December 31, 1948	January 3, 1981	Never	Democrat
Mississippi	James Eastland	Nay	January 3, 1943	December 27, 1978	Never	Republican
	John Stennis	Nay	November 5, 1947	January 3, 1989	Never	Republican
North Carolina	Samuel Ervin	Nay	June 5, 1954	December 31, 1974	Never	Democrat
	Benjamin Jordan	Nay	April 19, 1958	January 3, 1973	Never	Republican
South Carolina	Olin Johnston	Nay	January 3, 1945	April 18, 1965	Never	Democrat
	Strom Thurmond	Nay	November 7, 1956	January 3, 2003	September 16, 1964	Republican
Tennessee	Albert Gore, Sr.	Nay	January 3, 1953	January 3, 1971	Never	Republican
	Herbert Walters	Nay	August 20, 1963	November 3, 1964	Never	Democrat
Texas	Ralph Yarborough	Yea	April 29, 1957	January 3, 1971	Never	Democrat
Virginia	Harry F. Byrd	Nay	March 4, 1933	November 10, 1965	Never	Democrat
	Absalom Robertson	Nay	November 6, 1946	December 30, 1966	Never	Democrat
West Virginia	Robert Byrd	Nay	January 3, 1959	June 28, 2010	Never	Democrat
	Jennings Randolph	Nay	November 5, 1958	January 3, 1985	Never	Democrat

Southern Democrat congressmen
State	Name	Vote	First took office	Left office	Joined Republicans?	Successor's party affiliation
Alabama	George Andrews	Nay	March 14, 1944	December 25, 1971	Never	Democrat
	Carl Elliott	Nay	January 3, 1949	January 3, 1965	Never	Republican
	George Grant	Nay	June 14, 1938	January 3, 1965	Never	Republican
	George Huddleston, Jr.	Nay	1954	1965	Never	Republican
	Robert E. Jones, Jr.	Nay	January 28, 1947	January 3, 1977	Never	Democrat
	Albert Rains	Nay	January 3, 1945	January 3, 1965	Never	Democrat
	Kenneth Roberts	Nay	January 3, 1951	January 3, 1965	Never	Republican
	Armistead Selden	Nay	January 3, 1953	January 3, 1969	1979	Democrat
Arkansas	Ezekiel Gathings	Nay	January 3, 1939	January 3, 1969	Never	Democrat
	Wilbur Mills	Nay	January 3, 1939	January 3, 1977	Never	Democrat
	James Trimble	Nay	January 3, 1945	January 3, 1967	Never	Republican
	Oren Harris	Nay	January 3, 1941	February 3, 1966	Never	Democrat
Florida	Robert Sikes	Nay	January 3, 1941	January 3, 1979	Never	Democrat
	Charles E. Bennett	Nay	January 3, 1949	January 3, 1993	Never	Republican
	Claude Pepper	Yea	January 3, 1963	May 30, 1989	Never	Republican
	Dante Fascell	Nay	January 3, 1955	January 3, 1993	Never	Democrat
	Albert Herlong	Nay	January 3, 1949	January 3, 1969	1985	Democrat
	Paul Rogers	Nay	January 3, 1955	January 3, 1979	Never	Democrat
	James A. Haley	Nay	January 3, 1953	January 3, 1977	Never	Democrat (switched to Republican in 1984)
	Billy Matthews	Nay	January 3, 1953	January 3, 1967	Never	Republican
	Don Fuqua	Nay	January 3, 1963	January 3, 1987	Never	Democrat (switched to Republican in 1989)
	Sam Gibbons	Nay	January 3, 1963	January 3, 1997	Never	Democrat
Georgia	George E. Hagan	Nay	January 3, 1961	January 3, 1973	Never	Democrat
	John L. Pilcher	No vote	February 4, 1953	January 3, 1965	Never	Democrat
	Elijah Forrester	Nay	January 3, 1951	January 3, 1965	Never	Republican (since 1964)
	John Flynt	Nay	November 2, 1954	January 3, 1979	Never	Republican
	Charles Weltner	Yes	January 3, 1963	January 3, 1967	Never	Republican
	Carl Vinson	Nay	November 3, 1914	January 3, 1965	Never	Democrat
	John Davis	Nay	January 3, 1961	January 3, 1975	Never	Democrat
	James Russell Tuten	Nay	January 3, 1963	January 3, 1967	Never	Democrat
	Philip Landrum	Nay	January 3, 1953	January 3, 1977	Never	Democrat
	Robert Stephens	Nay	January 3, 1961	January 3, 1977	Never	Democrat
Louisiana	Felix Edward Hébert	No vote	January 3, 1941	January 3, 1977	Never	Democrat
	Hale Boggs	Nay	January 3, 1947	January 3, 1973	Never	Democrat
	Edwin Willis	Nay	January 3, 1949	January 3, 1969	Never	Democrat
	Joseph D. Waggonner	Nay	December 19, 1961	January 3, 1979	Never	Democrat
	Otto Passman	Nay	January 3, 1947	January 3, 1977	Never	Democrat
	James Hobson Morrison	Nay	January 3, 1943	January 3, 1967	Never	Democrat
	Theo A. Thompson	Nay	January 3, 1953	July 1, 1965	Never	Democrat
	Gillis W. Long	Nay	January 3, 1963	January 3, 1965	Never	Democrat
Mississippi	Thomas Abernethy	Nay	January 3, 1943	January 3, 1973	Never	Democrat
	Jamie Whitten	Nay	November 4, 1941	January 3, 1995	Never	Republican
	John Bell Williams	Nay	January 3, 1947	January 16, 1968	Never	Democrat
	William Arthur Winstead	Nay	January 3, 1943	January 3, 1965	Never	Republican
	William Colmer	Nay	March 4, 1933	January 3, 1973	Never	Republican (since 1972)
North Carolina	Herbert C. Bonner	Nay	November 5, 1940	November 7, 1965	Never	Democrat
	Lawrence Fountain	Nay	January 3, 1953	January 3, 1983	Never	Democrat
	David Henderson	Nay	January 3, 1961	January 3, 1977	Never	Democrat
	Harold Cooley	Nay	July 7, 1934	December 30, 1966	Never	Republican
	Ralph Scott	Nay	January 3, 1957	January 3, 1967	Never	Democrat
	Horace Kornegay	Nay	January 3, 1961	January 3, 1969	Never	Democrat
	Alton A. Lennon	Nay	January 3, 1957	January 3, 1973	Never	Democrat
	Basil L. Whitener	Nay	January 3, 1957	January 3, 1969	Never	Republican
	Roy Arthur Taylor	Nay	June 25, 1960	January 3, 1977	Never	Democrat
South Carolina	Lucius Mendel Rivers	Nay	January 3, 1941	December 28, 1970	Never	Democrat
	Albert Watson	Nay	January 3, 1963	January 3, 1971	June 15, 1965	Republican (since 1962)
	William Dorn	Nay	January 3, 1951	December 31, 1974	Never	Democrat
	Robert Ashmore	Nay	June 2, 1953	January 3, 1969	Never	Democrat
	John McMillan	Nay	January 3, 1939	January 3, 1973	Never	Republican (since early 1960s)
Tennessee	Joseph E. Evins	Nay	January 3, 1947	January 3, 1977	Never	Democrat
	Richard Fulton	Yea	January 3, 1963	August 14, 1975	Never	Democrat
	Ross Bass	Yea	January 3, 1955	November 3, 1964	Never	Democrat
	Thomas J. Murray	Nay	January 3, 1943	December 30, 1966	Never	Democrat
	Robert A. Everett	Nay	February 1, 1958	January 26, 1969	Never	Democrat
	Clifford Davis	Nay	February 14, 1940	January 3, 1965	Never	Democrat
Texas	Joseph R. Pool	Nay	January 3, 1963	July 14, 1968	Never	Republican
	John Wright Patman	Nay	March 4, 1929	March 7, 1976	Never	Democrat
	Jack Brooks	Yea	January 3, 1953	January 3, 1995	Never	Republican
	Lindley Beckworth	Nay	January 3, 1957	January 3, 1967	Never	Democrat
	Herbert Ray Roberts	Nay	January 30, 1962	January 3, 1981	Never	Democrat (switched to Republican in 2004)
	Olin Earl Teague	Nay	August 24, 1946	December 31, 1978	Never	Democrat (switched to Republican in 1983)
	John Dowdy	Nay	September 23, 1952	January 3, 1973	Never	Democrat
	Albert Richard Thomas	Yea	January 3, 1937	February 15, 1966	Never	Democrat
	Clark Thompson	Nay	August 23, 1947	December 30, 1966	Never	Democrat
	James Jarrell Pickle	Yea	December 21, 1963	January 3, 1995	Never	Democrat
	William Poage	Nay	January 3, 1937	December 31, 1978	Never	Democrat
	James C. Wright, Jr.	Nay	January 3, 1955	June 30, 1989	Never	Democrat
	Graham Purcell, Jr.	Nay	January 27, 1962	January 3, 1973	Never	Republican
	John A. Young	Nay	January 3, 1957	January 3, 1979	Never	Democrat
	Joseph Kilgore	Nay	January 3, 1955	January 3, 1965	Never	Democrat
	Omar Burleson	Nay	January 3, 1947	December 31, 1978	Never	Democrat
	Walter E. Rogers	No vote	January 3, 1951	January 3, 1967	Never	Republican
	George Mahon	Nay	January 3, 1935	January 3, 1979	Never	Democrat (switched to Republican in 1985)
	Henry B. González	Yea	November 4, 1961	January 3, 1999	Never	Democrat
	Ovie Clark Fisher	Nay	January 3, 1943	December 31, 1974	Never	Democrat
	Robert R. Casey	Nay	January 3, 1959	January 22, 1976	Never	Republican
Virginia	Thomas Downing	Nay	January 3, 1959	January 3, 1977	Never	Republican
	Porter Hardy	Nay	January 3, 1947	January 3, 1969	Never	Republican
	Julian Gary	Nay	March 6, 1945	January 3, 1965	Never	Democrat
	Watkins Abbitt	Nay	February 17, 1948	January 3, 1973	Never	Republican
	William Tuck	Nay	April 14, 1953	January 3, 1969	Never	Democrat
	John Marsh	Nay	January 3, 1963	January 3, 1971	1980s	Republican
	Howard Smith	Nay	March 4, 1931	January 3, 1967	Never	Republican
	William Pat Jennings	Nay	January 3, 1955	January 3, 1967	Never	Republican
West Virginia	Harley Staggers	Yea	January 3, 1949	January 3, 1981	Never	Republican
	John M. Slack, Jr.	Yea	January 3, 1963	March 17, 1980	Never	Democrat
	Kenneth Hechler	Yea	January 3, 1959	January 3, 1977	Never	Democrat
	Maude Elizabeth Kee	Yea	July 17, 1951	January 3, 1965	Never	Democrat

Many progressive revisionist historians try to point to Senator Strom Thurmond as proof to their claim of some mass "party switch". However, because Thurmond was among very few who did, he is an outlier. Conversely, several notable Senators remained as Democrats well into the 1970s. Two were Albert Gore, Sr. and J. William Fulbright, the latter of which was a mentor to future President Bill Clinton.

Some liberal sources including The Guardian and Vox Media attempt to deceptively whitewash the historical context of the 60s by claiming that the issue was much more attributed to region than party, showing statistics that Northern Democrats were more supportive of civil rights than Northern Republicans and likewise for the South. However, it's important to note that there were very few Southern Republicans during the time in contrast to a higher proportion of Southern Democrats, deeming such an outlook entirely misleading. Furthermore, as the Republican Party barely held any significant political power in the South during the time, the few congressional Republicans in the area who opposed civil rights were mostly outliers compared to the party's overall strong backing of civil rights.

Party platforms

See also: Democrat plantation

Early history

The Democratic Platform Is For The White Man, 1869

See also: Democratic party

Despite sleazy left-wing smears, it is important to note that the first Republican Party platform in 1856 advocated "inalienable right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness" in the idea that it applied to everyone and not just some. In addition, it stressed the violations of due process, the right to bear arms, the right to freedom of speech, all that were "done with the knowledge, sanction, and procurement of the present National Administration". It also rejected rule by the sheer mighty, scoffing it as shameful and dishonoring.

Important notes to mention about the similarities between the Republican Party at the time of its foundation and in its present day are more numerous than many liberal Democrats would like to admit. Founded as a party opposed to slavery on the basis of universal human rights regardless of certain physical traits and characteristics, Republicans continue using the argument in the present day against abortion (see: Slavery and abortion). In addition, many early Republicans had recognized the right to bear arms as being vital, including black anti-lynching advocates such as Ida B. Wells, who said:

“

The lesson this teaches and which every Afro-American should ponder well, is that a Winchester rifle should have a place of honor in every black home, and it should be used for that protection which the law refuses to give.

”

On the issue of trade, Republicans then supported economic protectionist measures and higher tariffs on foreign goods, as similar to the current economic nationalist wing of the Republican Party today led by Donald Trump. The early Republicans criticized polygamy in their first party platform as well, calling it a "twin relic of barbarism", similar to their opposition to the homosexual agenda today.

See also

• Southern Manifesto