The Former Confederacy & Modern American Politics, Part Twelve
The former Confederate states were becoming more competitive politically, a situation that would only grow in the future, as the South's Democratic Party tradition strained under that Democratic Party's continued stand against any segregation and discrimination and its move away from absolute hard lines in foreign policy; interestingly, actually moved much to the forefront a few years before by Republican Richard Nixon in his meetings with both China and the Soviet Union.* The earlier antiwar movement was often centered in the nation's colleges and universities, with that movement also having linked to the liberal wing of the Democratic Party, along with dress and hairstyle changes, trends not heartily embraced in the more tradition friendly southern states. **
In the midterm election of 1978, Republican Thad Cochran won a senate seat in Mississippi, and this was the only party change in the former Confederate states in the Senate. In the House, Republicans gained 1 seat in Arkansas, making the delegation 2 Democrats and 2 Republicans; Democrats gained 2 seats in Florida, making the delegation 12 Democrats and 3 Republicans; in Georgia, Republican Newt Gingrich won a seat, making the delegation 9 Democrats and 1 Republican; in South Carolina Republicans gained 1 seat making the delegation 4 Democrats and 2 Republicans; in Texas Republicans gained 2 seats making the delegation 20 Democrats and 4 Republicans.*** In governorships: Republicans gained the governorships of Tennessee and Texas, while Democrats retook the governor's mansion in South Carolina. This was not a party change, but future president Bill Clinton was elected governor in Arkansas.
* Nixon had gained prominence in national politics as a tough anti-communist while serving in the House of Representatives from California after World War Two, but especially so, when he ran for a Senate seat in 1950, by referring to his Democratic female opponent as, "the Pink Lady;" a reference, actually begun by her Democratic primary opponent, meant to accuse her of being "close with communists, while not actually accusing her of being a communist." This was all at a time of the early years of the conflict between communism, led by the Soviet Union and China, and "the West," led by the United States and Britain. When Nixon visited and negotiated with China and the Soviet Union, the selling line was that Americans could trust Nixon to negotiate with communist nations, because of his steadfast record against communism. It all became sort of reduced down to, "Only Nixon could go to China." I should add, in those times, China was always referred to as, "Red China."
** Our definitions of "tradition" can be a hard chore to accomplish, as tradition based upon what era? In the former Confederacy, where the era of the Confederacy was looked upon favorably by a significant part of the population, that era had men with lots of facial hair and long hair, something much more akin to the 1960s and 1970s, where that style was more common among antiwar protesters and people advocating looser sexual mores and attitudes towards drugs, as well as support for women's rights (often called "the counterculture" by conservatives), something not so readily accepted by many in the South, where the often clean shaven and short hair of the World War Two and immediate postwar decade seems to have been the "tradition" being upheld, as well as opposition to drugs and women's rights. While I'm certainly generalizing here, I want to make the point that not all political change and openness to Republicans in the former Confederate states was about race.
*** An interesting note in Texas: future president George W. Bush run for a congressional seat, but was defeated.
WORD HISTORY:
Weevil-This word, related to "weave," goes back to Indo European "webh," which meant "to move to and fro, to move about;" thus also, "to weave." This gave its Old Germanic offspring "webilaz," the name for a type of beetle, "perhaps" from its motion? Or the use of its snout so as to seem to weave? This gave Old English "wifel," with the same meaning. This then became "wevel," before the modern form. Forms in the other Germanic languages: German has "Wiebel," now a seemingly archaic term for a type of beetle,^ Low German "Wivel" also seems to be less used in modern times, as is Dutch "wevel," Old Norse, the forerunner of Danish, Norwegian, Icelandic and Swedish, had "vifill," used in "tordyfill," literally, "turd beetle;" that is, "dung beetle," but finding the use of a form in modern Danish, Norwegian and Swedish has proven to be difficult, although that doesn't mean they no longer exist, as they too, may now be dialectal or archaic.
^ The more common modern word for a weevil in German is, "Rüsselkäfer," literally a, "snout or trunk (like of an elephant) chafer (beetle)." Weevils have a trunk-like snout.
In the midterm election of 1978, Republican Thad Cochran won a senate seat in Mississippi, and this was the only party change in the former Confederate states in the Senate. In the House, Republicans gained 1 seat in Arkansas, making the delegation 2 Democrats and 2 Republicans; Democrats gained 2 seats in Florida, making the delegation 12 Democrats and 3 Republicans; in Georgia, Republican Newt Gingrich won a seat, making the delegation 9 Democrats and 1 Republican; in South Carolina Republicans gained 1 seat making the delegation 4 Democrats and 2 Republicans; in Texas Republicans gained 2 seats making the delegation 20 Democrats and 4 Republicans.*** In governorships: Republicans gained the governorships of Tennessee and Texas, while Democrats retook the governor's mansion in South Carolina. This was not a party change, but future president Bill Clinton was elected governor in Arkansas.
* Nixon had gained prominence in national politics as a tough anti-communist while serving in the House of Representatives from California after World War Two, but especially so, when he ran for a Senate seat in 1950, by referring to his Democratic female opponent as, "the Pink Lady;" a reference, actually begun by her Democratic primary opponent, meant to accuse her of being "close with communists, while not actually accusing her of being a communist." This was all at a time of the early years of the conflict between communism, led by the Soviet Union and China, and "the West," led by the United States and Britain. When Nixon visited and negotiated with China and the Soviet Union, the selling line was that Americans could trust Nixon to negotiate with communist nations, because of his steadfast record against communism. It all became sort of reduced down to, "Only Nixon could go to China." I should add, in those times, China was always referred to as, "Red China."
** Our definitions of "tradition" can be a hard chore to accomplish, as tradition based upon what era? In the former Confederacy, where the era of the Confederacy was looked upon favorably by a significant part of the population, that era had men with lots of facial hair and long hair, something much more akin to the 1960s and 1970s, where that style was more common among antiwar protesters and people advocating looser sexual mores and attitudes towards drugs, as well as support for women's rights (often called "the counterculture" by conservatives), something not so readily accepted by many in the South, where the often clean shaven and short hair of the World War Two and immediate postwar decade seems to have been the "tradition" being upheld, as well as opposition to drugs and women's rights. While I'm certainly generalizing here, I want to make the point that not all political change and openness to Republicans in the former Confederate states was about race.
*** An interesting note in Texas: future president George W. Bush run for a congressional seat, but was defeated.
WORD HISTORY:
Weevil-This word, related to "weave," goes back to Indo European "webh," which meant "to move to and fro, to move about;" thus also, "to weave." This gave its Old Germanic offspring "webilaz," the name for a type of beetle, "perhaps" from its motion? Or the use of its snout so as to seem to weave? This gave Old English "wifel," with the same meaning. This then became "wevel," before the modern form. Forms in the other Germanic languages: German has "Wiebel," now a seemingly archaic term for a type of beetle,^ Low German "Wivel" also seems to be less used in modern times, as is Dutch "wevel," Old Norse, the forerunner of Danish, Norwegian, Icelandic and Swedish, had "vifill," used in "tordyfill," literally, "turd beetle;" that is, "dung beetle," but finding the use of a form in modern Danish, Norwegian and Swedish has proven to be difficult, although that doesn't mean they no longer exist, as they too, may now be dialectal or archaic.
^ The more common modern word for a weevil in German is, "Rüsselkäfer," literally a, "snout or trunk (like of an elephant) chafer (beetle)." Weevils have a trunk-like snout.
Labels: conservatism, counterculture, Election 1978, English, etymology, Germanic languages, Jimmy Carter, Richard Nixon, social mores, states of the Confederacy
posted by Randy at 1:25 PM
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