On Mar 5, 2009, at 10:51 AM, Michael Pollak wrote:
> So it was already a right wing groundswell in the party that was
> powering Reagan in the mid-70s.
A groundwell, for sure, which had been growing since the Goldwater nomination in '64. But Goldwater got creamed, and the Reps didn't want to repeat that experience. If the right had been dominant, just what was Reagan swelling against?
The political scientists say there was little difference in the parties' voting records in Congress in the 1950s and 1960s. That started changing in the 1980s, as the Reps moved further to the right and the Southern Dems finally left the party. (Phil Gramm switched in 1983.)
Doug