Betrayal of the Democratic Party

Book: The Naked Capitalist (appendix) | January 25, 1936 | Alfred E. (Al) Smith

[Dan from Michigan]

Great Read. FDR was IMO, the WORST president we ever had.

[Fiddlstix]

bump
to read later

[Theodore R.]

For years, Dan, the Republicans have been "stealing" the Democrat "heroes," particularly FDR and HST. Even Goldwater and Reagan foolishly claimed that HST was the "greatest" president of the century. Yet it was HST who so mishandled Korea that he had a 24 percent job approval rating in 1952, low enough to convince Harry that the best case scenario for him was that only a few people were even "mild about Harry." Nixon even went so far as to rate the hapless Woodrow Wilson as the "greatest" president. Never, however, did the Republicans embrace a real Democrat hero like Al Smith. And I have yet to find the Democrats promote any Republican "heroes," other than Lincoln. In fact, most Democrats today will you tell you point-blank that Lincoln was a Democrat. They could have been absent the day the teacher taught that Lincoln was the first elected Republican president. Of course, in today's PC curriculum "it" may not "say" that Lincoln was a Republican!

[Niagara]

bttt

[Johnny Shear]

Would anyone care to tell this lazy lurker what that said?

[Free the USA]

I think I will send this to my Democrat Congressman. I have been debating with him for years and he has just enough sense that I think I might reach him unlike my two Senators who are clueless. The part about the tenth amendment and limited government is what I have been working on.

[BillyBoy]

Good read. Al Smith's alarm at FDR no doubt struck a chord with many others. The 1940 Republican Party candidate, Wendell Wilkie, had actually been a lifelong midwest DEMOCRAT up until FDR's reign. Wilkie was a business owner who ended up bogged down in all the federal regulations that he brought several lawsuits against new deal programs, then switched to the Republican party and became their suprise nominee.

Unfortunately, all these facts will no doubt fall on deaf ears for some freepers who INSIST the Democrats were the "true" conservative party back when the south voted 'RAT. FDR got over 90% of the vote in some so-called "conservative" southern states, but the co-alition of midwestern and western Republicans almost defeated him.

[TwoStep]

**BUMP**

[BillyBoy]

>> I have yet to find the Democrats promote any Republican "heroes," other than Lincoln. In fact, most Democrats today will you tell you point-blank that Lincoln was a Democrat. They could have been absent the day the teacher taught that Lincoln was the first elected Republican president. Of course, in today's PC curriculum "it" may not "say" that Lincoln was a Republican! <<

So tell me, if FDR was the second coming of Lincoln, why did the "conservative" southern states overwheming vote AGAINST Lincoln but then vote overwhemingly FOR Roosevelt? Does that sound consistant?

This article just proves the bulls--t you hear on this forum everyday that "the Democrats were the conservative party until Johnson took over in the 60s and then the south switched parties...blah blah blah"

[folklore]

Was that Al Smith in 1936 or Ron Paul in 2001? Great find.

[Arthur Wildfire! March]

No mention of FDR packing the Supreme Court? The Judicial Branch, IMO, has never recovered from that invasion.

[prognostigaator]

Contemporarily,every TV talking head ,every media pundit-columnist, every liberal newspaper editorial , and every socialistically inclined politician appearing on ,or writing for the above, would quickly accuse Al Smith, Democrat , of lacking the proper gravitas to be president...

[RobFromGa]

This ping's for you............

[G.Mason]

"Would anyone care to tell this lazy lurker what that said?"

Can't.

It was coded so you wouldn't understand it.

Sorry.

[G.Mason]

"Unfortunately, all these facts will no doubt fall on deaf ears....."

Sad but true.

Excellent post and comments.

My thanks to you both.

[BillyBoy]

1940 election results

ROOSEVELT (D) STATES IN RED
WILIKIE (R) STATES IN BLUE

ROOSVELT (D) % OF THE POPULAR VOTE-- SOUTHERN STATES
Alabama 85.22%
Arkansas 78.44%
Florida 73.99%
Georgia 84.81%
Kentucky 57.45%
Louisiana 85.88%
Maryland 58.26%
Mississippi 95.70%
Missouri 52.27%
North Carolina 74.03%
South Carolina 95.63%
Tennessee 67.25%
Virginia 68.08%
West Virginia 57.10%

ROOSVELT (D) % OF POPULAR VOTE-- NORTHWESTERN STATES
Colorado 48.37%
Idaho 54.36%
Iowa 47.62%
Kansas 42.40%
Montana 58.78%
North Dakota 44.18%
South Dakota 42.59%
Nebraska 42.81
Wyoming 52.82%

In modern times, the two most "conservative" regions of the country are considered the old south and the rural northwest. If you compare the 1940 election results to the 2000 election 60 years later, you will find little change in the northwest-- several of though states gave conservative Republicans almost 60% or more-- as they do today. However, you will see that the "conservative" southern states have flipped 180o since that time. They went from solidly supporting liberal Democrats to solidly supporting conservative Republicans. The only southern states that remotingly shared their 2000 voted pattern with their 1940 pattern was the ones in the "border" areas that were NOT very supportive of local Democrats in the civil war to begin with. So why is that most southern states changed THEIR voting patterns when the other traditional "conservative" states (Idaho, Nebraska, Indiana, etc.) did not?

It's because the REGIONS of America have altered their idelogy over the past century, NOT the political party's altering theirs (IF the party's had changed ideology, the north and midwest would have switched from DemocRAT to GOP too) For at least 100 years, the socialist wing of the 'RAT party has been far more powerful than the "liberal" wing of the GOP, much to the dismay of "moderates" like Alf Smith. Every once in a while, the Democrats nominate a conservative member the GOP nominates a liberal one. But this doesn't change their behavior as a whole.

[Illbay]

Wow. That's such a gem I'm actually BOOKMARKING it! Good job!