Virginia is trending Democrat, but seems to be reverting to the old school Southern liberal Democrat. Although the Dixiecrats were not as liberal as they are now. Ralph Northam reminds me of someone from the 1960's or 70s Virginia Democrat pool. He is economically conservative and socially liberal. But I can't imagine old school Southern Dems passing for gun control or stuff like that. They aren't the same.

Dixiecrats were not liberals. The closest modern analogy to a Dixiecrat is a Libertarian.

The faces of the Democratic party in the 1970s were progressive Henry Howell and centrist Chuck Robb. Dixiecrats also known as Byrd Democrats in Virginia were dying out by the 1970s. In 1966 moderately liberal Democrat Spong beat Byrd Democrat Robertson for the U.S. Senate. In 1970 Harry Byrd Jr. left the Democratic party to serve as an independent in the U.S. Senate. In 1976 Byrd was challenged by a Democrat but not a Republican. Mills Godwin was elected governor as a Byrd Democrat in 1965. In 1973 he was re-elected governor as a Republican. The last Byrd Democrat to hold statewide office was Reynolds who was elected Lt Gov in 1969 and died in office in 1971. When Reynolds ran for Lt Gov his former Virginia Senate seat was won by Douglas Wilder. That is a good indication of how much the Virginia Democratic party had changed by 1970.

Don't assume that gun control was a fair test of liberal v. conservative. Gun control was in vogue on both sides of the aisle in the 1960s and early to mid 1970s. The U.S. 1968 Gun Control Act passed by a vote of 70-17 in the Senate, with both Virginia Senators voting yes. In the House a majority of Republicans and Democrats voted yes, including all Democratic Representatives from Virginia and two of the four Republican Representatives. (Strangely most southern senators voted yes, while outside Virginia most southern representatives of both parties voted no.)

Your memory is a bit clouded Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Dixiecrats were not liberals. The closest modern
> analogy to a Dixiecrat is a Libertarian.
>
> The faces of the Democratic party in the 1970s
> were progressive Henry Howell and centrist Chuck
> Robb. Dixiecrats also known as Byrd Democrats in
> Virginia were dying out by the 1970s. In 1966
> moderately liberal Democrat Spong beat Byrd
> Democrat Robertson for the U.S. Senate. In 1970
> Harry Byrd Jr. left the Democratic party to serve
> as an independent in the U.S. Senate. In 1976
> Byrd was challenged by a Democrat but not a
> Republican. Mills Godwin was elected governor as
> a Byrd Democrat in 1965. In 1973 he was
> re-elected governor as a Republican. The last
> Byrd Democrat to hold statewide office was
> Reynolds who was elected Lt Gov in 1969 and died
> in office in 1971. When Reynolds ran for Lt Gov
> his former Virginia Senate seat was won by Douglas
> Wilder. That is a good indication of how much the
> Virginia Democratic party had changed by 1970.
>
> Don't assume that gun control was a fair test of
> liberal v. conservative. Gun control was in vogue
> on both sides of the aisle in the 1960s and early
> to mid 1970s. The U.S. 1968 Gun Control Act
> passed by a vote of 70-17 in the Senate, with both
> Virginia Senators voting yes. In the House a
> majority of Republicans and Democrats voted yes,
> including all Democratic Representatives from
> Virginia and two of the four Republican
> Representatives. (Strangely most southern
> senators voted yes, while outside Virginia most
> southern representatives of both parties voted
> no.)

Harry Byrd was great for Virginia. He gave us a highway system and apple orchards. A great man!

You are thinking of the elder Harry Byrd, who is also the guy Route 7 was named after. Harry Byrd Jr. Was his son.

Your memory is a bit clouded Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> You are thinking of the elder Harry Byrd, who is
> also the guy Route 7 was named after. Harry Byrd
> Jr. Was his son.


Word. Harry Byrd was great because he also was against de-segregation which ruined public schools.

The be-all and end-all for Dixiecrats was segregation. That's it. They used terms like states rights and freedom, but that was just smoke. All they cared about was keeping blacks in their place. Fuck em. Northam for all his faults (mainly he's an idiot) is nothing like them.