Dear Editor:

The Republican and Democratic parties today are not the parties of your Granddaddy.

At its founding in 1854 in Ripon, Wisconsin, the Republican Party was a coalition of various political elements, including Free Soilers, Northern Whigs, and even some “Know Nothings.” All of these, of course, have been relegated to the dustbin of history.

American political parties have always been made up of shifting coalitions. The shifts generally occur over a number of years, even decades. In 1928, for example, northern Black voters were overwhelmingly Republican but began to move into the Democratic Party during the New Deal. That shift gained momentum in 1948 when President Truman desegregated the Armed Forces.

Even so, twelve years later, Republican presidential candidate Richard Nixon received over a quarter of the Black vote.

A recent letter to the Times News noted that the post-Civil War Amendments were supported by Republican Congressmen and opposed by the Democrats, who had backed the Confederacy. That was correct. I am sure that the letter writer understands that neither the Democratic nor the Republican parties resemble their Civil War coalitions, although his letter wasn’t clear on that.

I would also urge that letter writer not to hyperventilate about the difference between “republic” and “democracy.” Words shift their connotations over time.

The term “conservative” is a good example. Is one a “Burkean conservative,” (which I am), a free market conservative, a fiscal conservative, or a religious conservative? The letter is not clear on that.

Sincerely,

Roy Christman

Towamensing Township