EP 280 How Chasing White Voters in The South Changed American Politics

      In the new book, ‘The Long Southern Strategy’, professors Angie
Maxwell and Todd Shields brilliantly unpack what was generally
considered a 1960’s strategy by the Republican Party in the Nixon era to
win over disaffected white voters in the previously Democratic
stronghold of the American South.  To usher in this profound realignment
the GOP abandoned its past support for civil rights and used racially
coded language to capitalize on southern white angst.  What their
research points out is that, in addition to race, this strategy
strengthened its hold on the region by defining women’s role in
society(coded family values) and fundamentalist theology.  And that
theology, once left to issues like prayer in schools and abortion, now
sweeps across a range of secular issues.  Angie Maxwell joins us to walk
us through the history and explains Donald Trump’s election in the
context of this appeal to white, southern voters.  And we explore
whether he’s nationalizing the strategy.  It’s a compelling book and a
great listen.

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