The
Southern strategy was
Richard Nixon's strategy to whiteify the electorate so
Republicans could hold onto power in light of demographic changes. It began as a grab for
southern states during the 1968 and 1972 elections: a combination of
dog-whistle politics as well as a deliberately
racist agenda, effectively throwing
any social clout the GOP had right out the window.
It resulted in a total party realignment over issues of
civil rights and racism. Democrats went from being the party who opposed civil rights to being the party that passed them,
[2] and Southerners
who were formerly Democrats voted Republican instead, because Republicans opposed progress in those areas to various extents. This was the most significant political realignment in the US since the "
New Deal Coalition," and one that still continues to this day.