I am often asked why Arkansas, and even Democratic bastion Randolph County, has become increasingly Republican. My answer has two components. The first is generational and the second has much to do with moral values.

The vast majority of Arkansans of my parents’ generation would not have even considered voting a Republican ticket. Coming from families already having a strong Democratic tradition, they were loyal to the party of Franklin Roosevelt and Harry Truman because of programs such as Social Security, rural electrification, the GI Bill of Rights and unemployment compensation; and to the party of Lyndon Johnson and John Kennedy for Medicare, Medicaid and government-supported college loans for low-income students.

Older black Americans well remember the monumental Civil Rights Acts of 1964 and 1965 and the leadership roles of Democratic Presidents Johnson and Kennedy in their passage. They also have not forgotten that Ronald Reagan’s 1980 presidential campaign was kicked off in Philadelphia, Miss., the site of the civil-rights election-worker murders of 1964. And if Richard Nixon’s much-vaunted Southern strategy for the Republican Party is not rooted in racism, how else do you explain it?

The second component of my answer addresses the apparent assumption that voters should cast their ballots on the basis of moral values. Which values are chosen and how they are represented to the voter is a subject worthy of much analysis.

The mass mail out brochures most of us received during the 2012 Arkansas general-election campaign are a classic illustration of the driving force of the values issues in recent elections. Financed by out-of-state billionaires-the Koch brothers-the brochures accused Democratic legislative candidates of being anti-gun, pro-abortion and in favor of same-sex marriage.

The truth is that the vast majority of Democratic legislative candidates were against gun control, abortion and gay marriage. On what basis were they accused? They were condemned for being Democrats because President Barack Obama is a Democrat, with a picture on many of the brochures helpfully reminding voters that he is black. Is lying a moral value? Arkansas voters’ intelligence has been insulted.

I believe the private-option insurance issue being addressed in the fiscal session of the Arkansas Legislature, which began this week, showcases the influence of the extremist element that is increasingly dominant in the Republican Party.

Knowing that resistance to expanding Arkansas Medicaid was probably insurmountable because of its association with Obamacare, Democratic Gov. Mike Beebe worked with Republican legislative leaders in the 2013 legislative session to craft the private option, which uses federal funds to help low-income Arkansans purchase health insurance without expanding the Medicaid program. I am proud that Republican Sen. Jonathan Dismang of an old Randolph County family played a major role in developing and getting approval for the plan. If only our national leaders could work as sensibly and pragmatically across party lines.

It now appears that nine Republican senators may block the plan and deprive 100,000 Arkansans of their health insurance. Why? I see only two credible answers. One is slavish adherence to ideology and mindless opposition to anything associated with Barack Obama. The other is the very real fear that a Tea Party candidate made to appear more conservative than themselves would oppose and perhaps beat them in the Republican primary if they voted for the private option.

With leadership provided by Gov. Beebe, House Speaker Davy Carter, Senator Dismang and other Republican legislative leaders, I am guardedly optimistic that the private option will continue. The program will generate millions of dollars in economic activity, protect funding for crucial parts of the state budget including education, have a very favorable impact on our medical centers and provide health insurance for potentially 250,000 of our most vulnerable citizens. Surely good judgment, economic reality and elemental human compassion will prevail.

Values issues such as gun control, gay rights and abortion are a legitimate part of election campaigns.

Deliberate misrepresentation of Democratic candidates’ views on these issues, though, is fundamentally dishonest.

Blatant and cynical racism epitomized by Nixon’s electoral strategy and Reagan’s use of code words at Philadelphia, Miss., and continued by the more subtle racism of demonizing Democrats by their association with President Obama, is morally reprehensible.

Clearly, both parties have much to answer for on the basis of morality. Taking the excellent bipartisan work done on the private insurance option as inspiration, both ought to lay aside malice and work together for the good of us all.

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Harmon Seawel of Pocahontas is a former state representative.

Editorial, Pages 15 on 02/13/2014