Originally posted by rogue06
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IOW, for you if they supported civil rights then by your definition they couldn't be conservative but must therefore be moderates. If that were the case then the vast majority of Republicans in Congress during that period were moderates (82% of Republicans in the Senate and 79% in the House voted for the Civil Rights Act). In fact FWIU of 26 major civil rights votes from 1933 through the 1960’s civil rights era shows that Republicans favored civil rights in approximately 96% of the votes (whereas the Democrats opposed them in 80% of the votes).
As one example take a look at Senate Minority Leader Everett Dirksen, widely recognized as being a key player in passing the Civil Rights Act (presented a civil rights accomplishment award for the year by the head of the NAACP in recognition of his efforts). At the start of his political career he was regarded as a moderate but as the years progressed he was by any measure definitely conservative belonging to the so-called old guard conservative wing of the Republican Party. He was
And one look at his voting record reveals that he was steadily conservative on economic issues.
- staunchly anti-communist to the point of even defending Joe McCarthy
- prominent supporter of the Vietnam War
- ardent supporter of Taft (longtime leader of the Republican party's conservative wing) over moderate-liberal Dewey for the presidential nomination
- introduced a constitutional amendment in support of organized prayer in public schools
- defeated the more moderate John Sherman Cooper for the Senate Minority Leader position
And one look at his voting record reveals that he was steadily conservative on economic issues.
It appears that you have already decided on a conclusion and are seeking to force the facts to fit it and if they don't then simply hand wave them away.
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