When did the identities of the two main political parties become reversed?

Question

By reading the posts on here, the liberals accuse Republicans of being uneducated, dirt poor white trash, etc. when it was formerly the other way around. Republicans used to be accused of being only for the "rich guy" and not for the "common man."

Answer 1

In the 1960's the northern Dems strongly supported civil rights for blacks. This alienated southern Dems, and they switched parties. Other working class Democrats, particularly from the south and west, became Republicans in the early 1980's and were known as Reagan Democrats. This was partially a backlash from the civil rights movement and anti-war movement of the 1960. It was also the result of an erroneous belief that the Republican party was going to represent the interests of the average Joe, not the rich guy. Many Republicans are still deluded on this point now.

Answer 2

In the beginning, Republicans were middle class farmers from the North that believed that foreign slaves were taking away their jobs. Sound familiar?

Democrats from the South were the rich and poor.

After the Civil War, most blacks in the know were Republicans, but since many were illiterate and communication was poor, they sided with the local politics. Neither side believed in government social programs. That changed after The Great Depression and the New Deal. Democrats kept winning in large numbers when they basically bribed the poor (which the Great Depression provided plenty of) with all sorts of social programs.

Republicans were still the middle class and now instead of mostly farmers, they were middle businessmen. Their taxes were getting sucked up to pay for those not working. The tax and spend platform was created.

Then both sides started to use each other's tactics. A Republican senator might want a $50 million fish farm in a city of 5,000 and Democrats became isolationists with their various anti-war themes (It was the Republicans who were isolationists before and during WWI and WWII).

With very little actually between the two sides (some have changed sides but voted for and against the same things they always have), they have been reduced to name calling.

Answer 3

seems they've done so more than once. first the republicans abolished slavery, then the dixiecrats were mainly an arm of the KKK, but later the republicans opposed civil rights (thurmond) and I think what happened is that the democrats kind of absorbed the populist party. Then the Republicans opposed big government, and now they want to give the federal government more power; the Democrats used to be for a stronger federal government and spending to make the lives of Americans better, now they complain about the deficit. The Republicans used to complain about the deficit but now they run it higher than any Democrats in history. Now, the Republicans are for the rich guy, or so I thought, when did that change? Is it because they claim they'll lower everyone's taxes? because Democrats primarily want to raise rich people's taxes... or not even raise them, but not lower them as much as the Republicans...

It's a mess. How can we get such a mess when we have only two parties?

Answer 4

There once was a time when both parties had a wide range of political philosophies from the far right to the far left. Now, they have become more or less identifiable as liberals or conservatives. The democrats could not accept the fact that GW Bush defeated them in the 2000 presidential election and their resentment turned to hatred by many of their party leaders. They (democrats) have added new political ploys to an already loaded political arsenal and have used more and more dirty tactics since that election. Of course, the republicans are not completely innocent of this, but they are far more honorable than the democrats. I invite you to find a situation where GW Bush called any democrat an insultin name. Yet, look at all the names he has been called by Dean, Kennedy, and other democratic leaders.

Answer 5

Not true in the present. Dictator Dumbya said that "his base" is the "haves and have mores". While Dumbya himself might be intellectually challenged and the fact that an expensive education was enitirely wasted on him, does not diminish the fact that Democratic Party platforms and policy objectives have favored the INCLUSION of all income strata. The Repuke objective of eliminating the "death tax", aka estate tax, would benefit a small fraction of 1% of the population of the USA.

Answer 6

No kidding.
And what ever happened to Republicans being the party that wanted the government to stay out of their lives? Now we've got folks in our party who want to tell people how to pray, who to marry, what we can/cannot watch and listen to, allowing the government to spy on us....man!
Democrats were always the ones who wanted the government to hold their hands!

Answer 7

Repubs get there support from the poor and uneducated who believe there lies but they actually only support the rich.

Answer 8

It's about the christian coalition overtaking and controlling the Republican party.

That's the actual "no-spin" answer.


After 1964 the KKK Dems migrated to the Republican Party.

Answer 9

They still accused of both, which doesnt make sense to me either.

Region, you have is backwards, thats the dems that pray on the dispair of the poor with promises of riches and social programs.

Answer 10

1820 under andrew jackson, democrat party in its present name were formed before that they were the republicans. =)