Hyde-Smith. How could she EVER have been a Democrat, when she...

[3catwoman3]

...holds such vile views. Did she have a complete breakdown of some sort?

[sweetloukillbot]

1. Southern Democrat...

Think Strom Thurmond, George Wallace, etc...

[Recursion]

2. Rick Perry used to be a Democrat

He was stumping for Al Gore in Texas, when Elizabeth Warren was knocking on doors for George H. W. Bush. Things change over time.

[LeftInTX]

12. Rick Perry switched way back in 1989, when the Texas lege was completing it's

switch to Republican. And he was a state rep in an isolated area.

Hyde-Smith switched in 2010.

[Blue_true]

3. Old Dixiecrat. Democrat in name only.

Voting, racial views were republican.

[at140]

4. very close race

Candidate Party Votes Pct.
Cindy Hyde-Smith*
Republican
17,779 50.8%
Mike Espy
Democrat
17,236 49.2
35,015 votes, 3% reporting (55 of 1,797 precincts)

[guillaumeb]

5. The Demcoratic Party passed the Civil Rights Act.

And lost the racists.

She is one of them.

[raging moderate]

6. Dixiecrats.

Last edited Wed Nov 28, 2018, 12:11 AM - Edit history (1)

And fellow-traveler Northern Democrats, spiritual descendants of the Civil-War era Copperheads. They called themselves that because they had a special secret sign play, showing each other a penny heads up. Abolitionists called them that because of the silent but deadly copperhead snakes that sometimes hide in the grass. I think it's still a good name for them.

[Raine]

7. Reagan used to be a Democrat so

was Trump, shit happens.

[RockRaven]

8. Plenty of white southerners were, before the Civil Rights Act. It took a while to wash out entirely.

After all, Democratic party roots in the south were deep. 1800s deep.

[GulfCoast66]

9. Up until the 60s Republicans were more likely to anti-racist than Democrats.

Remember Lincoln and all. When LBJ signed the Voting Rights act the republicans signaled they would be happy to pick up the racist southern democrat vote and they began abandoning the Democratic Party. Took 30 to complete but is now a done deal. At the same time most liberal republicans(there used to be a bunch of them) became democrats. The biggest political realignment in the nation since the death of the Whigs.

[ProudLib72]

10. Remember in Tom Tomorrow's This Modern World comic when Sparky the penguin hits his head?

Remember how hitting his noggin made him Republican?

Yeah, it was kind of like that.

Hell, you can't try to make sense out of the nonsensical.

[LeftInTX]

11. I know, she just recently switched parties

We get that in TX too. A Democrat will switch because they can't win as a Democrat. And usually they aren't racist. Their biggest controversy is switching parties. She was a state senator....she's also younger than me, so the Dixiecrat moniker doesn't fit. (She's not even 60)

[3catwoman3]

18. Her nasty sneer makes her look a lot...

...older than 60.

[yardwork]

13. Dixiecrat. Vile people.

[BlueInRedHell]

14. Plenty of FL panhandle democrats are "in name only" and always vote for Republicans. r/o

They like modern Republicans but still refuse to change their party affiliation due to a grudge against Lincoln. *Lots* of "Democrats" told me that when I was a precinct captain years ago. It would not be a stretch to say that in that one precinct, around 25% of the Democrats really weren't Democrats.

[madville]

16. The FL county I am from still is majority registered Democrats

Most local elections are decided in the Democratic primary and it goes to the Dixiecrat types. State and Federal elections go to the GOP though.

[LeftInTX]

19. Interesting...Hyde-Smith switched in 2010 so she could win a state-wide seat

In TX, we don't have many strong Democratic counties, except in the Rio Grande Valley.

I live in San Antonio and many county officials were Republican until November 6th. In presidential years, county positions will be Dem, but positions that are elected in mid-terms often get swept by Republicans.

[madville]

15. Blue Dog Democrats

Many got wiped out at the federal level between 2000-2010. The few survivors switched to GOP.

[Marcuse]

17. Lee Atwater's southern strategy. How the solid South turned Republican.

[link:https://www.thenation.com/article/exclusive-lee-atwaters-infamous-1981-interview-southern-strategy/|