Lee Atwater discusses the GOP's "Southern Strategy" (Audio NSFW)

[AsiaticSkinsFan]

This was pursuant to a thread we had earlier on race and the election cycle.

Code words used to incite racist white voters. This has been the GOP playbook since Nixon was elected in 1972.

[Jumbo]

I thought Huckabee did as good job as should be expected on the Daily Show articulating the failings and a better vision for the GOP and it's relationship with African Americans and perceived racial issues.

Jon, of course, presented a devastating Fox compilation in the mix.

[AsiaticSkinsFan]

http://www.thenation.com/article/170841/exclusive-lee-a****ers-infamous-1981-interview-southern-strategy

Here is the article that goes with it plus more audio

[Bang]

Aw hell.. thems jes' jokes!

They's all bin taken all outta contexty and whatnot.

~Rush

[thebluefood]

The southern strategy is repulsive, but you can't deny it effectiveness. I don't think Nixon or Regan (or any other Republican presidential nominee in the past 40 years) hated blacks; but after the Democratic Party permanently went to the left on social issues, the left a huge pocket of voters in their wake. The Republicans would have been fools not to jump on that.

[AsiaticSkinsFan]

The southern strategy is repulsive, but you can't deny it effectiveness. I don't think Nixon or Regan (or any other Republican presidential nominee in the past 40 years) hated blacks; but after the Democratic Party permanently went to the left on social issues, the left a huge pocket of voters in their wake. The Republicans would have been fools not to jump on that.

I don't think anyone has argued against its effectiveness

But it's clearly losing luster. In the last 20 years, not a single GOP presidential candidate has gotten over 300 electoral votes. Some can be attributed to Clinton and Obama resembling more Rockerfeller Republican policies, but also because that coded language doesn't work anymore in the rest of America which have more of the electoral votes than the South.

[mistertim]

The southern strategy loses its effectiveness once minorities are a major player and can decide the fate of elections. At that point you can either try to suppress that vote (it was tried by the right) or you can court it (wasn't tried). I hate dog whistle politics and it really pissed me off to hear Romney and his backers start using the "welfare" and "food stamps" code words this election.

[thebluefood]

I don't think anyone has argued against its effectiveness

But it's clearly losing luster. In the last 20 years, not a single GOP presidential candidate has gotten over 300 electoral votes. Some can be attributed to Clinton and Obama resembling more Rockerfeller Republican policies, but also because that coded language doesn't work anymore in the rest of America which have more of the electoral votes than the South.

I hear ya, and I think Republicans were short sided when they chose to go down that path; but I don't know if anyone could've predicted the United States would become so richly mulch-cultural way back then.

I often wondered how the GOP would've differed if Rockefeller were nominated in '64 and/or '68 instead of Goldwater (one of the fathers of the modern Republican Party) and Richard Nixon.

[D'Pablo]

I've been thinking about this and after this election, I've come to the conclusion that the once 'silent majority' of working class white folk has become a loud minority. Meanwhile, the new 'silent majority' is a rainbow coalition of professional and working class white folks, and just about everyone else- blacks, latinos, asians, gays, etc. In essence, the segment of America that gives it a diverse outlook and practices acceptance over tolerance.

[elkabong82]

Well, when you market yourself as the conservative party, and the protector of "tradition" then there will be people who try and to conserve the wrong traditions.