I was just outlining how the Republicans went from big gov to small gov, I'm not trying to argue policy verse personnel. I don't even think those are mutually exclusive.C-Mag wrote:JohnDonne wrote:In the 1860s and 70s Republicans and Democrats vied for the new western states. The republican federal expansions were good for big businesses like banks and railroads but they left the farmers out west with little. Both parties wished to seize the new voting bloc, so they tried to appeal to the westerners through federally funded social programs and benefits. The Democrats stuck with this strategy, while republicans slowly went counter for hands off government. Republicans essentially remained a party of big business though, because once all the infrastructure was finished big businesses didn't want big government anymore. In the 1930s the Republican position was hardened by the opposition to the New Deal.C-Mag wrote:
Can someone lay out the party switch theory.
So your argument is policy based not personnel based ?
When I think about it, it''s not surprising that the South, which was defeated by the Federal government, would always be represented by the party of small government. In any case, I only claim that it is regional culture that defines the parties which control (or rather caters to) them, not the other way around. It's plain to see that the spirit of the 1860s Democrats is alive and well in the Southern Republicans of today.
Just to put a point on it, if the Democrat party is the same as then, why don't those modern confederate flag wavers vote Democrat so that the South will rise again? Why do they look to the Republican party for their leadership, the ones you claim destroyed their way of life?