With those words, Grover Norquist became the most prominent figure in Republican politics to openly declare that the "Southern strategy" of the party continues and once again will be the key to another presidential victory in November.
It is also a re-affirmation that the "'Cold' War between the States" is alive and well in the 21st century.
With the end of the the Civil War in 1865 came the period of Reconstruction led by the victorious Republican party whose stated intent was the restoration and revitalization of the Southern economy but whose other goal was the full implementation of Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation as the law of the land. For the South, already seething from the humiliation of their defeat, this was yet another act of aggression by the North.
The geographical dichotomy over the issue of slavery is as old as the nation itself. The author of our Constitution,Thomas Jefferson, himself a Southerner and slave-owner, truly believed that "All men are created equal" but that the the extension of that principle to the black man would result in the stillborn birth of a new nation. The seed of segregation had been sown and, more importantly, codified as a tenet of American law for decades to follow. And the concept of "States Rights" would become the slowly growing cancer on the American body politic that would eventually be excised by the secession of the South from the Union.
At the end of the Civil War, the Republican Party was anathema to Southerners. What would become the modern Democratic Party took root and, with few exceptions, became the party of choice of the new South.
But some wounds never heal. The concept of States Rights became the South's raison d'etre for continuing its policies and practices of segregation and discrimination. The rulings of the federal government in Washington took a back seat to the right of the individual state to govern and enact laws as it saw fit. And so, America's second "Cold War" waged on.
At the end of World War II, Harry Truman, by a stroke of the presidential pen, de-segregated America's armed forces. Suddenly, Southerners in the military were forced to live, work, and sleep along side the very people who in civilian life couldn't even drink from the same water fountain.
The South's reaction was swift. Strom Thurmond, then the Democratic governor of South Carolina, so incensed by this act of presidential hubris broke with the party and mounted a third party run for the presidency against Truman with "Segregation now" and States Rights as its rallying cries. The stage was set for the collapse of the Democratic Party in the South.
Seeing an enormous opportunity to seize control of the disaffected southern Democrats, the Republican party began to formulate a strategy for success. The passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 was seen as the final act of betrayal by the Democrats. It was also the last piece of the puzzle the Republicans needed. What began as a disjointed and scatter-shot approach, the "Southern Strategy" was cohered and formulated in the 1970's by a rising political operative, Lee Atwater.
And the basis of the strategy was simplicity itself. Seize the anger of Southerners over the growth and success of the Civil Rights movement and turn it to their advantage. Draw upon the Southern traditions of segregation and discrimination. Using at times blatant racism, but more often couching it in code words and terms, the Republicans put themselves forward as the party that would defend and maintain those traditions and rights of the Southern states. And the phrase "States Rights" became the biggest code term of all.
The successful use of this strategy by Nixon in 1968 codified the "Southern strategy" as a basic tenet of the Republican party. It would eventually result in almost every single Southern U.S. senator and congressman being a Republican. The old cry of "The South shall rise again!" had finally come true. And the proof is in the pudding. As Hillary Clinton noted yesterday over the last forty years only two Democrats have been elected president, Carter and Bill Clinton.
And in every presidential election cycle since 1968, we have seen the hidden (and sometimes not) racist references insinuate themselves into the political campaigns. Usually it is subtle and confined to select audiences. But at other times, it has become the cornerstone of the national campaign as did the infamous Willie Horton ads used against Michael Dukakis in 1988.
And Karl Rove, the spiritual heir to the legacy of Lew Atwater, honed it and refined it from a blunt-edged sword into a delicate stiletto.
Now in 2008, America is witness to a unique moment in its history. A black man, Barack Obama, has become the first person of color to be a major party's nominee for president of the United States. For most Americans, it is the fulfillment of Martin Luther King Jr.'s "I have a dream" speech in 1968. And in a delicious irony of fate, Barack Obama will deliver his acceptance speech at the Democratic convention in Denver exactly forty years to the day of King's speech.
But for some Americans, it is yet another symbol of the North's on-going humiliation and oppression of the South which began over 140 years ago.
Which brings us back to Grover Norquist and his non-too subtle comment. It was the signal to those who still fight this cold war that the Republicans have their back and won't let them suffer the ultimate defeat, a black American president.
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