Earlier quoted context omitted.
So why would Democrats switch parties if they didn’t think the other party was in line with their beliefs. Whike Zell Miller was purportedly a Democrat, he actively campaigned for Republican Presidential candidates. But are you really going to defend the Party of Trump as being inclusive? Are you really claiming that the Southern Strategy didn’t exist despite the words of Lee Atwater?
Rather than ask me to explain why three people switched parties, you should explain why so many Southern segregationists (all but 3) didn't switch parties if the Democrats were suddenly the party of civil rights. And the claim that interview with Lee Atwater is talking about Republican strategy makes no sense. It starts with "in 1954 you start out saying n....r, n....r, n....r." But in 1954 the South was solidly Demo…
But, parties change and they try to appeal to enough different coalitions to get elected. The Republican Party use to be about free trade, "pulling yourself up by the bootstraps and not blaming others for your plight in life" and at least give lip service to caring about the deficit. Now they are completely the opposite.