Clinton Republicans and Reagan Democrats

[freepcrusher]

When I was in college, I was a poli sci major and wrote a paper on how reactionaries have taken over both parties, forever changing the demographics of the republican and democratic parties.

Here is what I call a "Reagan Democrat" reactionary. This person was raised by parents who were staunch FDR Democrats. They were enthusiastic supporters for Kennedy and Johnson and their ushering in for a new utopian world. Between the 1964 and 1968 elections a political earthquake shook this country (read Nixonland for more information). After the 1968 democratic national convention disaster in Chicago, these people split their votes between Wallace and Nixon. In 1972 they rallied behind Richard Nixon with his appeal for a "silent majority". In 1976, they returned to the democratic party and supported Jimmy Carter and his outsider appeal. But by 1980, they deserted the party once again, this time for good, to vote for Reagan. This person has been a republican ever since and whines incessantly about how the democratic party has become the party of commies and queers.

Here is what I call a "Clinton Republican" reactionary. They were raised by staunch Dewey/Eisenhower Republicans. This person voted republican in every election from 1960 to 1988, except in 1964, because they thought Goldwater was a fecking idiot. These people were OK with Nixon and Reagan and voted for them, but were huge supporters of Gerald Ford in 1976. From 1972 to 1988, Republicans won all but one election by decent margins because of united support from these two groups. The "Clinton Republican" was a republican until the 1992 convention in Houston when the two Pats (Buchanan and Robertson) made controversial comments. They instead decided to vote for Clinton or Perot in 1992. They returned to vote republican in the 1994 midterm elections giving the party massive gains nationwide, but became appalled by Speaker Gingrich and were democrats from 1996 to the present. This person would be someone who has an advanced degree and works in a high tech industry. They despise the republican party for accepting the homeschooling reconstructionist types.

[freepcrusher]

Do Clinton Republicans really politically exist? I mean, Clinton himself was effectively an Ike Republican but I don't know ...

sure they exist. Just ask the residents of Vermont, New Jersey or California.