The Big Switch

The "big" switch wasn't instant but there was a switching of platforms. Between the 1860's which spilled into the late 1900's, the Democratic party of small government became the party of big government, and the Republican party of big government became committed to limiting federal power. The Southern Democrats were racist garbage and the Republican party was more liberal but both had racist. Racist Democrat Lyndon Johnson signed the civil rights bill with a bit more Republican support than democratic. This is when you see the South start to pull away from the Democratic party, despite the many Republicans agreeing with the bill. Later, racist Republican, Richard Nixon played on the hate and racism of those southern states to become president. This how the parties changed as well as the south's affiliation. The south is now and has been Republican since the signing of the civil rights bill and it was and still is most certainly racist.