Did Dewey lose in 1948 because he neglected the black vote? (user search)
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  Did Dewey lose in 1948 because he neglected the black vote? (search mode)
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Author Topic: Did Dewey lose in 1948 because he neglected the black vote?  (Read 3327 times)
dazzleman
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« on: December 26, 2005, 07:21:12 PM »

Interesting question.

Truman's grand strategy was to win certain key states by going after the black vote.  He chose that option over keeping together the unnatural coalition of northern liberals and southern white racists.  When he refused to remove a plank from the Democratic platform supporting equality for blacks, Strom Thurmond bolted with his Dixiecrats.  Ironically, this hastened the demise of the segregationists because it showed that the Democrats could win without the solid south, and they lost their ability to blackmail the party.

As far as Dewey goes, I never gave much thought to his campaign strategy, other than to recognize that it was based upon a smug assumption of victory, and a strategy not to raise any controversial issues so as to upset the consensus on voting for him.  That's my best guess -- treatment of blacks was a controversial issue, and he thought he could win without raising it, and therefore without going after black support by campaigning for civil rights.  In this, as in some other things, he was mistaken.
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