re: #759 Athos

Agree with a lot of what you say - just the brush is a little wide - particularly here -

So, when did George Wallace go firmly GOP? Or Fritz Hollings? Fulbright? Richard Russell? While some Dixiecrats went GOP - others remained well entrenched in the Democrat Party.

The racial issues are a lot more complicated than your explanation and raises valid questions given the lack of backlash against many southern democrats who remained democrats.

Racial issues are indeed complicated but not in the way you suggest. There was very little in common between Southern Democrats and Northern Democrats. Regarding the lack of a backlash, what need was there for a backlash when those Southern Democrats either became Republicans, remained Democrats but voted with the Republicans or were replaced by Republicans after retiring? Instead of the party label, one might ask whether those Southern Democrats were liberal.