Tuesday, July 2, 2019

The late 1960s introduced a new phrase into the political lexicon: the Southern Strategy. Republicans put it to use in the aftermath of the civil rights movement to reshape the electoral map for generations. Guest host Michael Bitzer looks at the origins and legacy of this tectonic shift.

In the 1964 presidential election, Republicans suffered one of the biggest political lickings in American history. But equally significant was the political realignment that election illustrated as the once-solid Democratic South turned Republican, and the electoral map has more or less stayed the same since.

Looking back on 50 years of Electoral College maps, pictures of a changing nation. https://t.co/Z7wJ3hQOIV pic.twitter.com/tN9QU2sKJb — The Upshot (@UpshotNYT) August 24, 2016

That switch was part of what's come to be known as the Southern Strategy - political shorthand for appealing to Southern white voters' attitudes on race, culture and religion.

University of Arkansas professors Angie Maxwell and Todd Shields look at the roots of this blue-to-red shift in their book, "The Long Southern Strategy: How Chasing White Voters in the South Changed American Politics."

GUEST HOST

Michael Bitzer, Catawba College, Dept. of Politics chair; author of "The Old North State Politics" blog (@BowTiePolitics)

GUESTS

Angie Maxwell, director of the Diane D. Blair Center of Southern Politics and Society, University of Arkansas (@AngieMaxwell1)

Todd Shields, dean, J. William Fulbright College of Arts and Sciences, University of Arkansas