The Former Confederacy & Modern American Politics, Part Eighteen
As Ronald Reagan's time in office drew near its end, his vice president, George H. W. Bush, made his own run for the presidency. While Bush was born and raised in New England, and his wife, Barbara, was born in New York City, they had made their permanent residence in Texas for several decades, and raised their family there (future president, George W. Bush, however, was actually born in Connecticut). Hardcore conservatives were uneasy about Bush, as he had opposed Reagan in the early primaries in 1980, and the term, "voodoo economics," about Reagan's economic plans, was used by George Bush in that primary campaign against Reagan. One of the major controversies for Bush was his role in "Iran-Contra." * Bush's defense was that he "was out of the loop;" and that he hadn't known about the illegal diversion of funds from the sale of weapons to Iran to Nicaragua. Since Reagan was then president, the main focus of investigation into the affair was to determine his role in it, as well as that of the active participants, and the independent counsel investigating the matter later admitted that Bush was not given the scrutiny he should have had. (More on this in the next part)
No question about it, racial issues were the initial matters that pulled Southerners into the Republican column over the decades, but another major issue to develop was over abortion. With religious fundamentalism so prominent in many parts of the South, and with Roman Catholicism having many adherents in Louisiana and Florida, the more Southerners who switched to the Republican Party, the more socially conservative the party had to become, and the more diminished social conservatism became in the Democratic Party. While this isn't always easily proven, politicians of whatever political party will say a lot of things just to get votes, or to mute criticism, even though their personal feelings may well be indifferent to a particular subject, or perhaps even on the other side of an issue. It's always been my feeling that Reagan announced conservative positions on some issues, because he and his advisers felt he had to do so, not because he necessarily agreed with a particular position, or that he was passionate about his "announced position." We saw that he would mention abortion in some speeches, but he never terribly pursued the issue in his policies. Still, fundamentalist religious people, led by Jerry Falwell and Pat Robertson, both from former Confederate state, Virginia, never abandoned Reagan. On the other hand, Robertson actually entered the 1988 Republican presidential race, which included Senator Bob Dole of Kansas, besides then Vice President George Bush. Bush had been more to the pro-choice side of the abortion issue, and, over time, he and his family had generally supported family planning, an issue that was highly controversial in the United States in Bush's younger days, as contraception was illegal in many states and the promotion and mailing of contraceptive literature or devices was long against the national law (Comstock Law), and Catholicism and some Protestant fundamentalists were against contraception. Even sex education was not always supported by some. In the Republican primaries, George Bush, who had, at least nominally, gotten on board the anti-abortion wagon while serving under Reagan, had to declare his opposition without hesitation. Lee Atwater, who was born in Georgia, and who lived much of his life in South Carolina, was Bush's campaign manager. Bush easily won the Republican nomination, and he ran well in the former Confederate states, even though Pat Robertson remained in the race until mid May. To shore up his conservative credentials, and to appeal to the young conservatives of the 1980s, Bush chose Dan Quayle a senator from Indiana as his running mate. While a controversial pick, in that Quayle did not have much experience, he was very socially conservative.
On the Democratic side, Senator Al Gore of Tennessee dropped out of the race in April, although he won primaries in North Carolina and Tennessee. Jesse Jackson, of South Carolina, won primaries and caucuses in: Virginia, South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana and Texas (a primary and caucus state, where he split with Dukakis. Michael Dukakis of Massachusetts, won only in Florida (and split in Texas) in the South, but he won a large number of states in the northern and western parts of the country to clinch the nomination. In an effort to appeal to Southerners, Dukakis chose Senator Lloyd Bentsen of Texas as his running mate.
In the general election campaign, Republicans tagged Dukakis, who was the governor of Massachusetts, as a "liberal," a word that had been so besmirched by conservatives during the 1980s, that some Democrats tried to avoid it, giving Republicans the glee of pointing out what they came to refer to as, "the 'L' word." Democrats took many a swipe at Dan Quayle for his inexperience and that, if the Bush-Quayle team were elected, that Quayle could turn out to be president. Bush appealed to the growing conservative element in the Republican Party by trying to assure doubters about his commitment to not raising taxes by saying, "Read my lips... no new taxes." There were other aspects to the 1988 campaign, but there is no point in going into detail, as Dukakis was very unlikely to carry southern states, and in the November vote, that proved to be the case, as Bush swept the states of the former Confederacy by wide margins. In total, Bush received about 53 1/2% of the national vote, to 45 1/2% for Dukakis. In the all important Electoral College, Bush won in a landslide, 446 to 111, and 1 for Bentsen, as one Democratic elector in West Virginia (a state carried by Dukakis/Bentsen) abandoned his pledge to support the Democratic candidate, and chose to vote for Bentsen for president.
In the U.S. Senate races in former Confederate states, Democrats captured a Republican seat in Virginia, while Republicans won Democratic seats in Florida and Mississippi. Overall, Democrats gained one seat nationally. In the House of Representatives in former Confederate states, Republicans gained 2 seats in Florida, making the delegation 10 Democrats and 9 Republicans; Democrats gained a seat in Georgia, making that delegation 9 Democrats and 1 Republican; in Texas, Democrats gained 2 seats to make the delegation 19 Democrats and 8 Republicans. Nationally, Democrats netted a 2 seat gain. Only North Carolina had a 1988 election for governor in the former Confederate states, and Republicans held that governorship.
* I covered the basics of "Iran-Contra" in Part Seventeen" of this series. This is the link: http://pontificating-randy.blogspot.com/2017/11/the-former-confederacy-modern-american_12.html
WORD HISTORY:
Abort-This compound word, the second part of which is related to Latin-derived words borrowed by English, "origin," "original" and "originate," and now almost always used as a verb, but once used somewhat more commonly as a noun, goes back to Indo European "heri," which had the notion, "to spring forth, to arise:" thus by extension, "to come into existence, to be born." This gave Latin "oriri," with the same meanings. The "ab" part of the word is related to words of the Germanic languages meaning "off" and "of" (including these two English words) through Indo European "apo," which meant "away from, off (from)." The combined terms gave Latin "aboriri," meaning, "to miscarry, to end a pregnancy, to disappear." Its participle was "abortus," which was borrowed by English as "abort" in the mid 1500s.
No question about it, racial issues were the initial matters that pulled Southerners into the Republican column over the decades, but another major issue to develop was over abortion. With religious fundamentalism so prominent in many parts of the South, and with Roman Catholicism having many adherents in Louisiana and Florida, the more Southerners who switched to the Republican Party, the more socially conservative the party had to become, and the more diminished social conservatism became in the Democratic Party. While this isn't always easily proven, politicians of whatever political party will say a lot of things just to get votes, or to mute criticism, even though their personal feelings may well be indifferent to a particular subject, or perhaps even on the other side of an issue. It's always been my feeling that Reagan announced conservative positions on some issues, because he and his advisers felt he had to do so, not because he necessarily agreed with a particular position, or that he was passionate about his "announced position." We saw that he would mention abortion in some speeches, but he never terribly pursued the issue in his policies. Still, fundamentalist religious people, led by Jerry Falwell and Pat Robertson, both from former Confederate state, Virginia, never abandoned Reagan. On the other hand, Robertson actually entered the 1988 Republican presidential race, which included Senator Bob Dole of Kansas, besides then Vice President George Bush. Bush had been more to the pro-choice side of the abortion issue, and, over time, he and his family had generally supported family planning, an issue that was highly controversial in the United States in Bush's younger days, as contraception was illegal in many states and the promotion and mailing of contraceptive literature or devices was long against the national law (Comstock Law), and Catholicism and some Protestant fundamentalists were against contraception. Even sex education was not always supported by some. In the Republican primaries, George Bush, who had, at least nominally, gotten on board the anti-abortion wagon while serving under Reagan, had to declare his opposition without hesitation. Lee Atwater, who was born in Georgia, and who lived much of his life in South Carolina, was Bush's campaign manager. Bush easily won the Republican nomination, and he ran well in the former Confederate states, even though Pat Robertson remained in the race until mid May. To shore up his conservative credentials, and to appeal to the young conservatives of the 1980s, Bush chose Dan Quayle a senator from Indiana as his running mate. While a controversial pick, in that Quayle did not have much experience, he was very socially conservative.
On the Democratic side, Senator Al Gore of Tennessee dropped out of the race in April, although he won primaries in North Carolina and Tennessee. Jesse Jackson, of South Carolina, won primaries and caucuses in: Virginia, South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana and Texas (a primary and caucus state, where he split with Dukakis. Michael Dukakis of Massachusetts, won only in Florida (and split in Texas) in the South, but he won a large number of states in the northern and western parts of the country to clinch the nomination. In an effort to appeal to Southerners, Dukakis chose Senator Lloyd Bentsen of Texas as his running mate.
In the general election campaign, Republicans tagged Dukakis, who was the governor of Massachusetts, as a "liberal," a word that had been so besmirched by conservatives during the 1980s, that some Democrats tried to avoid it, giving Republicans the glee of pointing out what they came to refer to as, "the 'L' word." Democrats took many a swipe at Dan Quayle for his inexperience and that, if the Bush-Quayle team were elected, that Quayle could turn out to be president. Bush appealed to the growing conservative element in the Republican Party by trying to assure doubters about his commitment to not raising taxes by saying, "Read my lips... no new taxes." There were other aspects to the 1988 campaign, but there is no point in going into detail, as Dukakis was very unlikely to carry southern states, and in the November vote, that proved to be the case, as Bush swept the states of the former Confederacy by wide margins. In total, Bush received about 53 1/2% of the national vote, to 45 1/2% for Dukakis. In the all important Electoral College, Bush won in a landslide, 446 to 111, and 1 for Bentsen, as one Democratic elector in West Virginia (a state carried by Dukakis/Bentsen) abandoned his pledge to support the Democratic candidate, and chose to vote for Bentsen for president.
In the U.S. Senate races in former Confederate states, Democrats captured a Republican seat in Virginia, while Republicans won Democratic seats in Florida and Mississippi. Overall, Democrats gained one seat nationally. In the House of Representatives in former Confederate states, Republicans gained 2 seats in Florida, making the delegation 10 Democrats and 9 Republicans; Democrats gained a seat in Georgia, making that delegation 9 Democrats and 1 Republican; in Texas, Democrats gained 2 seats to make the delegation 19 Democrats and 8 Republicans. Nationally, Democrats netted a 2 seat gain. Only North Carolina had a 1988 election for governor in the former Confederate states, and Republicans held that governorship.
* I covered the basics of "Iran-Contra" in Part Seventeen" of this series. This is the link: http://pontificating-randy.blogspot.com/2017/11/the-former-confederacy-modern-american_12.html
WORD HISTORY:
Abort-This compound word, the second part of which is related to Latin-derived words borrowed by English, "origin," "original" and "originate," and now almost always used as a verb, but once used somewhat more commonly as a noun, goes back to Indo European "heri," which had the notion, "to spring forth, to arise:" thus by extension, "to come into existence, to be born." This gave Latin "oriri," with the same meanings. The "ab" part of the word is related to words of the Germanic languages meaning "off" and "of" (including these two English words) through Indo European "apo," which meant "away from, off (from)." The combined terms gave Latin "aboriri," meaning, "to miscarry, to end a pregnancy, to disappear." Its participle was "abortus," which was borrowed by English as "abort" in the mid 1500s.
Labels: abortion, contraception, Dan Quayle, election 1988, English, etymology, fundamentalists, George H.W. Bush, Latin, Lee Atwater, Lloyd Bentsen, Michael Dukakis, race, religion, states of the Confederacy
posted by Randy at 2:32 PM
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