IS THERE A PRESIDENT IN THE HOUSE? (PART X): Bush & Civil Rights

» Brian Tubbs - Bush & Civil Rights

In response to message posted by Mugwump53:

Behind again, I know. :-) Great series, John.

I wanted to add my two cents on this discussion by seizing on one of your comments, namely your remark that you were surprised by a "Republican from a conservative southern district voting and speaking in favor of civil rights!"

In reality, and I'm sure you know this, the Republican Party has a history of strong support for civil rights. Bush comes from that traditional Republican school. Unfortunately, with the Goldwater candidacy of 1964 which appealed to states' rights and the Nixon Administration's embracing of much of the southern states' rights positions after that, the GOP took a detour from its finer traditions on that issue.
(By that, I mean no disrespect to Goldwater who was personally very much committed to states' rights, but the political realignment that he presided over reshaped the Republican Party).

-- posted by Brian Tubbs