quote:

ORIGINAL: GoddessManko

The Blue Dog Democrats of the south generally are conservative. Little known fact. A lot of members of Congress are friends. It is why Specter had a way into the Democratic party although he and Ted Kennedy (RIP, I miss you on CSPAN) would argue all the time. I remember the 109th Congress, Arlen Specter (who sat next to Tom Leahy and is GREAT friends with him) told a red faced Ted Kennedy who was yelling "THE AMERICAN PEOPLE AREN'T GONNA STAND FOR THIS!" and I quote: "We can do whatever we want, only three people watch CSpan" and the ENTIRE Senate laughed (excluding the less conservative minority). I SAW this with my own eyes.
Most people in Congress align with post modern republican ideas (and LOBBYISTS) even when Democrat, especially from the South. When someone is serving their 20th term, it is no longer a Democracy but a Monarchy. And they all work together for so long, they have developed long standing friendships and they seem almost untouchable in Congress because well...only 3% of voters voted in the Congressional Texas primary, Congrats Cruz.
Most of them dislike Obama because he's the new guy and he's trying to CHANGE things, starting with the lobbyists dominating Washington. He is unpopular among his constituents because he passed the most aggressive anti lobbying bill in US history miraculously with a bit of pandering which is the only thing that allows a bill to pass nowadays.
Now that he is president, even those kind of negotiations have ended. But I digress.
It is not about the party but what the individual stands for.

quote:

ORIGINAL: MercTech

"Why does the South still harp on the Civil War?", is something I've been asked many times when traveling or working outside of the Southeast. It comes down to a difference in perception of some historical events. Consider me a devil's advocate here as I share some points of view that definitely are not mainstream. I present them but in now way claim I agree.

1> Reconstruction:
A> Andrew Johnson attempted to follow the Lincoln plan and normalize and return the southern states to the union as fast as possible. Radical Republican pressure led to his impeachment over the issue of his not "punishing" the South sufficiently. Andrew Johnson remained in office by only one vote in the Senate.

B> After the elections of 1866; Radical Republicans took control of Congress and mandated policies to the Union Army occupying the southern states in order to punish the south.
a.> The "Oath of Allegiance" being withheld because of reciting improperly in order to deny voting rights. (supposedly if you spoke with a southern drawl you could not recite the Pledge of Allegiance to the flag properly and were denied restoration of the right to vote as per the Lincoln plan)
b> Taxes paid during the war were declared "not paid" and property taxes were assessed back to the beginning of the war resulting in property and land being sold at tax auction at pennies on the dollar. (One of the objections to "Carpetbaggers" as they had the ready cash to purchase at tax auctions)
c.> Confiscation of hunting arms if proof could not be provided of having performed an Oath of Allegiance.
d.> Restrictions on former Confederate troops on purchasing property.

C> There was a huge influx of missionaries, business speculators, and opportunists from the Union who collectively became known as Carpetbaggers. Abuses attributed to such were:
a.> Manipulating and buying votes from illiterate freedmen in order to take control of local governments.
b.> Providing bribes to occupying troop commanders in order to get real estate confiscated and sold at tax auction.
c.> Price gouging on rebuilding supplies and shipped in foodstuffs.

2> Racism:
A.> Frankly, the recently freed slaves were seen at the time as uneducated and incapable of intelligently exercising the franchise of voting. Blacks were perceived as violent and sexually aggressive to the danger of the rest of the population. The perception can readily be seen illustrated in D.W. Griffith's "Birth of a Nation".
B.> Ku Klux Klan. The original Klan started as a drinking club of former confederate soldiers. The Klan migrated into a political group to oppose the abuses of the occupation forces. Nathan Forrest's Klan was disbanded in 1874 for two reasons; states were returning to control of the population and disgust at the excesses of the radical members perpetrating attacks on the black population. (The Klan had a resurgence in the 1920s on the heels of the "yellow scare" and popularization of the Eugenics Movement. In the heyday of the Klan in the 1920s there were more members in Ohio and Indiana than all the southern states combined. But that is for a discussion other than reconstruction)
C.> After control returned to the population of the states where was a flurry of laws to disenfranchise the childlike negro race as they were not considered capable of self determination. (Yep, people actually believed in "What Man's Burden") Vachel Lindsay's poem "The Congo" probably captures the racist impression of blacks prevalent from the end of the Civil War to the beginning of WWI. http://www.bartleby.com/265/193.html (Ever wonder where the term "Mumbo Jumbo" comes from?)

3. Blue Dog Democrats - "I'll vote democratic until dogs come in blue."
From the abuses, real or just perceived, of Reconstruction driven by Radical Republicans; the southern states were staunchly part of the Democratic party. The Democratic primary was the actual race and the Republican candidate just got a chance to express an opinion. This lasted from the end of Reconstruction until 1968.
What happened in 1968 was the decision of party at the Democratic Convention. Duly elected representatives from many southern states were barred from the convention and delegates chosen by "caucus" were substituted.
As this was the heyday of civil rights reform and Vietnam War protest you can argue that the ends justified the means. It did drive the Southern states firmly out of the Democratic camp and into the Republican. I still wonder if "Tricky Dicky" would have won an election if the Democrats hadn't alienated a huge block of voters.

One of my main sources for the attitudes of the period come from growing up around a lady that was born just after reconstruction, was a teen going to Cotillions in the 1990s, and married to a lawyer that became a federal judge in the 1930s. She was over a hundred when she died in the 1970s.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reconstruction_Era

I anticipate a lot of "revisionist history" comments. But history books are written by the winners and the losers often see things differently.

quote:

ORIGINAL: MercTech

I've always thought the common denominator for a "redneck" of any race or location was "proud of being ignorant".
The racism is everywhere.
The rednecks of the south are just up front and blatant about it.