Rev. Billy Graham says he's a Democrat

[TitanTiger 20,510]

Interview with Katie Couric on Today this morning:

Couric: Do you worry about the current mix of Evangelical Christian doctrine and politics? About preachers who are suggesting to their congregations that they should vote a certain way.  Does any of this concern you, Rev. Graham?

Graham: No, they've always done that.  You can go back to the Middle Ages and the Protestant Reformation, things like that.  They've talked politics for centuries.  And I stay as far away as I can.

Couric: Why?

Graham: I think that if I would talk on a political subject, if I talk about it, it would divide the audience on that issue. That's not my issue. My issue is Christ.

Couric: I read, though, that you're a Democrat.  Is that true?

Graham: Yes.  I am.

Couric: Do you think people would be surprised to learn that?  Because generally, in this day and age, Evangelical Christians are closely associated with the Republican Party.

Graham: Well, I don't know that.  I've never found out who they're associated with.  Locally, I'll vote one way and nationally, maybe another.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/8326362/

He did give that last caveat, but still left it open to interpretation. I just found this interesting.

[Guest Tigrinum Major]

It runs the same with a lot of small Southern towns. Twenty years ago, if you ran as a Republican in local races, you had no chance. At the same time, the Southern Democrats were voting for Reagan and Bush. Only recently have we seen Alabama Senators and Representatives switch to the Republicans (Shelby, et al.)

[CarolinaTiger 0]

yep...billy graham fits right in w/ the democratic party, doesn't he.

[AURaptor 1,126]

Being an Atheist never felt so good!

[TexasTiger 13,016]

It runs the same with a lot of small Southern towns.  Twenty years ago, if you ran as a Republican in local races, you had no chance.  At the same time, the Southern Democrats were voting for Reagan and Bush.  Only recently have we seen Alabama Senators and Representatives switch to the Republicans (Shelby, et al.)

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Don't tell David. He's convinced Liberal Deaniac Democrats inhabitated the South in the 50s and 60s and opposed civil rights.

[Tiger in Spain 0]

George Wallace was a democrat, John C. Stennis was a democrat, Robert Byrd is a democrat and we all know they were champions of the Civil Rights movement

Strom Thurmond was a democrat from 1956-1964 (prior to that he was a member of the States Rights Democratic Party aka the Dixiecrat Party), In the 1970s after becoming a Republican, Thurmond had a change of heart IRT segregation and endorsed integration earlier than many other southern politicians.

It took JFK and the National Guard to get the southern democrats to open up to integration. And, it was the Republicans that pushed through civil rights legislation. Do some research and see what party opposed it.

[WarTim 3,457]

Being an Atheist never felt so good!

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When that fateful day arrives, be sure and tell that to God.

[TexasTiger 13,016]

George Wallace was a democrat, John C. Stennis was a democrat, Robert Byrd is a democrat and we all know they were champions of the Civil Rights movement 

Strom Thurmond was a democrat from 1956-1964 (prior to that he was a member of the States Rights Democratic Party aka the Dixiecrat Party), In the 1970s after becoming a Republican, Thurmond had a change of heart IRT segregation and endorsed integration earlier than many other southern politicians.

It took JFK and the National Guard to get the southern democrats to open up to integration. And, it was the Republicans that pushed through civil rights legislation. Do some research and see what party opposed it.

165520[/snapback]

And what changed Strom's mind in 1964? And what Southern state would have re-elected a Senator of either party that had voted for it?

It is sadly amusing to watch Southerners revise both the history of this issue and who the opposing sides were on this issue.

The South largely opposed giving civil rights to blacks during that time. It was forced on us. Those are facts. There was essentially on party in the South at that time and Southern Dems defied their Democratic President on this issue and their colleagues from other parts of the country. The opposition to civil rights legislation was largely Southern-- outside of the South, the opposition was not from Democrats.

Do some research and try to understand history and context.

[CCTAU 3,344]

George Wallace was a democrat, John C. Stennis was a democrat, Robert Byrd is a democrat and we all know they were champions of the Civil Rights movement  

Strom Thurmond was a democrat from 1956-1964 (prior to that he was a member of the States Rights Democratic Party aka the Dixiecrat Party), In the 1970s after becoming a Republican, Thurmond had a change of heart IRT segregation and endorsed integration earlier than many other southern politicians.

It took JFK and the National Guard to get the southern democrats to open up to integration. And, it was the Republicans that pushed through civil rights legislation. Do some research and see what party opposed it.

165520[/snapback]

And what changed Strom's mind in 1964? And what Southern state would have re-elected a Senator of either party that had voted for it?

It is sadly amusing to watch Southerners revise both the history of this issue and who the opposing sides were on this issue.

The South largely opposed giving civil rights to blacks during that time. It was forced on us. Those are facts. There was essentially on party in the South at that time and Southern Dems defied their Democratic President on this issue and their colleagues from other parts of the country. The opposition to civil rights legislation was largely Southern-- outside of the South, the opposition was not from Democrats.

Do some research and try to understand history and context.

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VOTES, VOTES, AND MORE VOTES.

The black vote to be more precise.