Developed by Republican strategists like Harry Dent and Pat Buchanan during the rebuilding of the GOP in the post Civil Rights Act and Voting Rights Act era, the Southern Strategy's goal was to win over southern whites by demonizing blacks using subterfuge, dog whistles and coded language. As I mentioned last week, the late Republican mastermind Lee Atwater described the use of the Southern Strategy as being all about the use of "abstract" issues that imply race without explicitly using direct racial epithets or even the words "black" or "white."
Atwater described some of the abstract issues of his era as "forced bussing" or taxes, and framing these issues in a way that subconsciously fuels white resentment towards blacks, and serves to coalesce white votes around Republican candidates. After all, Republicans will readily admit that trying to win over black voters has been a lost cause since LBJ, so why not exploit that loss by playing to white racial bias and thus locking down larger chunks of the white vote?
Labels: civil rights, civil war, GOP, Huffington Post, Palin, race, racism, Republican Party, tea party
June 2005 July 2005 September 2005 October 2005 November 2005 December 2005 January 2006 February 2006 March 2006 April 2006 May 2006 June 2006 July 2006 August 2006 October 2006 January 2007 February 2007 March 2007 April 2007 May 2007 June 2007 July 2007 September 2007 October 2007 December 2007 March 2008 April 2008 July 2008 September 2008 October 2008 November 2008 December 2008 June 2009 July 2009 December 2009 February 2010 March 2010 October 2010 June 2011
Subscribe to Posts [Atom]