Tags
1968, 2016, 2017, Donald Trump, George Wallace, Hubert Humphrey, Richard Nixon, Trump supporters
Wallace supporters – 1968
Recently my personal research took me to the October 24, 1968 edition of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. On page 57, was an article about supporters of the then presidential candidate of Alabama Governor George Wallace. Wallace was in a three-way race with Richard Nixon and Hubert Humphrey. Wallace was a poor third place against Nixon and Humphrey; however, he did manage to keep Nixon and Humphrey in a statistical tie with each failing to receive more than fifty percent of the vote.
What is interesting about the article is the quotes by Wallace supporters, and the uncanny similarity in tone to today’s Trump supporter. For example:
Regarding Wallace:
Now I keep hearin’ about an old Nixon and a new Nixon, and an old Humphrey and a new Humphrey, Now I don’t know which is which, but I can tell you there is no old Wallace or new Wallace. He’s sayin’ and believin’ the same things as when he ran for governor. And he’ll be sayin’ and believin’ the same things as President.”
Dick Smith, October 1968
“We’ve already given Democratic and Republican presidents a chance and they can’t straighten things out. Let’s give somebody new a try. We don’t have anything to lose.”
Bob Miller, October 1968
Regarding Trump:
The other politicians are controlled by their handlers. He’s not.”
Vern Engel, Kansas City, August 2015
“I backed Trump from the beginning. Because he calls things out. He does not allow lies to live. He just exposes things. Pastors sometimes need to be politically correct, and Donald Trump is not politically correct, and I love that about him”
Crystal Myers, California, May 2016
Regarding Wallace:
I’m a racist, but that’s not the reason I’m supporting Wallace. I’m behind him because he’s the most patriotic man I know. I just can’t stomach these liberals. I think they’re scum.”
William Napier, October 1968
“I’ve moved twice because of Negroes moving in. All that loud rock and roll music.”
Elmer Genie, October 1968
Regarding Trump:
I was actually sitting in the chow hall (in Qatar) when they announced the results (when Obama won in 2008,) and he gave his speech,” he says. “I saw such a division at that time. Every black member of the military was cheering. Everybody else was sitting there mute. Like stunned.”
Former Marine, June 2016
“….these people, that are from other countries, non-speaking—I’m not biased, I have no reason to be—but . . . I’m seeing them getting cash, getting their bills paid, and, as a taxpaying citizen, I don’t get anything. And so the border thing really resonated with me.”
Stephanie from Minnesota, June 2016
Ideologically, there is no difference between the 1968 George Wallace supporter, and the 2017 Trump supporter. Both act on emotion and opinion with few facts to support their position. They are unified in the opinion that non-whites are, at least in part, the cause of their problems. They are also completely deaf to any idea or fact that doesn’t support their position, and ignorant of how corporations and the wealthy have manipulated them into making decisions that go against their own interests.
Our country’s problems aren’t caused by bad politicians. They are caused by uneducated and unintelligent voters who don’t have the ability to understand what they are doing…and never will.
Quotes were taken from the St. Louis Post-Dispatch (24 October 1968,) BBC News (9 November 2016,) The New Yorker (11/18 June 2016)
Ideologically, there is no difference between the 2000 Al Gore supporter and the 2017 Clinton supporter. Both act on emotion and opinion with few facts to support their position. They are unified in the opinion that whites are, at least in part, the cause of their problems. They are also completely deaf to any idea or fact that doesn’t support their position, and ignorant of how politicians and the media have manipulated them into making decisions that go against their own interests.
Our country’s problems are caused by bad politicians. They are also caused by out-of-touch Hollywood elites and media who don’t have the ability to understand the common person…and never will.
See what I did there…
Jason of The Truth Revolt,
I would have thought that a ‘think tank’ could come up with a better response, but you’re a conservative think tank, so you are working with limited knowledge and skills.
The Fox News version of those who are intelligent, thoughtful, and patriotic is wearing thin. Your weak attempt to offer a counter argument by applying the conservative’s major weaknesses (acting on emotion and opinion rather than facts, attributing the problems of our country to non-whites, deaf to any idea or fact that doesn’t support the conservative opinion, ignorant of how conservative media leads the unintelligent around by the short hairs by telling them exactly what they want to hear while doing exactly the opposite, etc.) is essentially the third grader tactic of saying, “Nu-hu, well, you’re ugly too!” The ‘see what I did there’ comment did make me laugh. You were so proud of your elementary school come back..it’s kind of cute the way you have no self awareness of the silliness of your powers of argumentation.
You’re organization is at least, aptly named,..oh, I’m sorry, aptly means appropriately named. Maybe I should say correctly named, or to put it in terms a Trump supporter could understand, “dats name’s good.” The Truth Revolt means a revolt against Truth, which defines the conservative ideology perfectly.
But to your last paragraph…before the cute little statement at the end, you state that the problems with our country are caused by bad politicians. That’s incorrect. Every politician is elected, and it is the people who are electing the politicians that the make or break our political system. We either choose to elect good politicians or bad politicians. The question is how to prevent the unintelligent voter not to be fooled by conservative stupidity.
Also, I’m not from Hollywood, nor are most of the 68 million people who voted for Hillary Clinton. There are only about 150,000 people who live in Hollywood, and that is 20 times greater than the 3 million votes by which Clinton beat Trump in the popular vote. If I’m an elite, then it is because I’m an intelligent citizen who loves my government/country. The ‘common person’ you talk about must be the type of person who lives in my hometown of about 10,000 people. That ‘common’ person has a high school education, some just barely, they don’t want to go any where to get a good job, but they expect that the government will force a big corporation to open a new factory that employs people of minimal education and skills in high paying jobs with great benefits. That’s the ‘common person’ you’re talking about.
Yes, I know that common person. I know him well. He shouldn’t be making decisions about our country.
Your website is part of the David Horowitz Freedom Center, which has as it’s number one priority to ‘identify the enemy’, and it’s number two priority, to ‘find ways to attack and neutralize him.’ I certainly hope that I’m am the enemy you seek. I can think of no greater honor than to be the target of a people who support a man, whose parents blindly followed Communism, only to discover they were wrong, followed by a son who can’t seem to figure out who or what he is for, therefore, he’s decided to create his own version of Stalinist Communism in the United States by attempting to attack and destroy other people. Actually the only thing Horowitz has not done to complete his image is change his last name to Stalin.
See what I did there….