Recently, Philip Martin wrote asking what had happened to the old Republican Party--the good one that represented the economic elite, but did so with concern for national interest, respect for democracy, and yes, at least some noblesse oblige. I think I know.
I will add that my sense of loss may be greater than Martin's since I am old enough to have vague memories of the pre-1960 Republican Party. If the old guys had kept control, I could imagine being a Republican. As is, I watched what they did in Memphis during my college years (1960-64) and have never voted for a Republican in my life.
Republicans dominated national politics from the Civil War until three tax cuts in the 1920s--sound familiar?--helped take us into the Great Depression and led to a long period of Democratic dominance. Since it only represented a wealthy minority, in its efforts to retake power after World War II, the Republican Party systematically recruited moderate- and lower-income white voters, most with less than a college education, with appeals to a variety of fake issues, bigotry, and fears.
It, in effect, conned moderate- and low-income voters to vote against their self-interest.
Republicans began their recovery claiming their opponents were soft on communism, or maybe were communists. I've heard a 30-second radio ad from 1952 in which Eisenhower questions the loyalty of Democrats. The notion that "liberals" aren't good Americans goes back to this period, and the suspicion remains; only recently, Lindsey Graham denounced four Democratic congresswomen as "communists."
In the 1960s, when the national Democratic Party broke with its Southern bloc and backed civil rights legislation, the most radical change ever in American politics occurred: The once solidly Democratic South became the core of the Republican base. In 1952 and 1956, when war hero Republican Eisenhower ran against egghead Democrat Stevenson, the people of Arkansas cast their votes for Stevenson. Surprised?
Today, Arkansas Democrats hold no statewide or congressional positions. Angie Maxwell and Todd Shields' The Long Southern Strategy fleshes out the process of turning American politics into Southern politics, and is worth a read. Blue-collar voters outside the South were recruited over fair employment legislation designed to end racial discrimination in hiring. That created the Reagan Democrats, who with their descendants, put Donald Trump over the top in the Midwest.
The big three Republican scams since the '70s--God, guns and gays--come and go according to the concerns of the day. The most successful has been the opposition to legal abortion since Roe v. Wade, though a call to outlaw abortion nationally did not become part of the Republican platform until 1980. (Note: Outlawing abortion does not end it, but does make it more difficult and dangerous for poor women.)
The legalization of same-sex marriage seems to have given anti-gay sentiment, that was aging out, a boost. Transgender issues can be seen in the introduction of "bathroom bills" in various red states--a great example of creating a divisive issue where none existed. The NRA keeps those opposed to any form of gun control energized and strongly affiliated with the Republican Party. The party has recruited fundamentalist "Christians" for decades using a variety of social issues, though evangelical support for our most un-Christian president ever makes their "Christianity" appear problematic.
Constructing the Republican base by appealing to the low end of American voters has been a cumulative process extending over decades; once recruited, voters tend to stay loyal to the party.
The scheme worked well until Donald Trump appeared and gave the Republican base a leader who would not just use their votes while fleecing them economically, but would overtly express their fears and bigotry. The Republican Party's only real issues remain deregulation of business and tax cuts for the rich--the most recent of which has taken the deficit to over $1 trillion a year--but the language has changed.
The Republican base is why Republicans in Congress will not act to restrain Trump. The base are the voters who vote in Republican primaries and whose votes are required to re-elect Republicans, and they are strong Trump supporters. (It will be interesting to see if the behavior of some Republicans in Congress changes as the filing deadlines in their states pass.)
What the old Republicans, the ones that both Martin and I admired, did not grasp is that if you recruit your base with appeals to bigotry and ignorance, and you are successful (they were), those voters become the party. I think the history of how the Republican Party constructed its base goes a long way toward explaining the party's present sad condition.
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Roger A. Webb of Little Rock is a retired UALR professor of psychology.
Editorial on 11/04/2019