Nixon was right-- the GOP will become the first all-white political party

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The First All-White Political Party
By Jamelle Bouie, Jaime Fuller July 10, 2013

Today's Ringside Seat: Well ... I guess Nixon was right.

Back in 1964, in an interview with Ebony Magazine, the former vice president Richard Nixon—who had run for president in 1960 as a civil-rights moderate—warned that Barry Goldwater would transform the Republican Party forever if he managed to win his crusade for the GOP nomination. “If Goldwater wins his fight,” Nixon said, “our party would eventually become the first all-white political party.”

Now, of course, Goldwater would win his fight, and four years later, Nixon would capitalize on post-civil rights resentment to win two presidential victories, the second, a landslide. But setting aside Nixon’s about-face on the question of African American voters, it’s worth noting that he was right. The current Republican Party—and its rejection of any government—flows directly from the beliefs embraced and pushed forward by Goldwater and his supporters. And not only has this GOP become a vehicle for white resentment, but in the last few weeks, it has begun to embrace the idea that it could win elections by appealing exclusively to white voters.

Instead of passing comprehensive immigration reform and appealing to Latino voters, the argument goes, Republicans will instead devote their attention to winning back “missing” white votes. Not only is this a fool’s errand—it relies on a whole host of shaky assumptions—but it’s a black mark on the idea that both parties should strive to represent a full range of the American experience.

In his interview, Nixon said that taking this path would be a “violation of GOP principles.” When you consider why the party was founded, and what it was supposed to stand for, it’s hard to disagree.
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