The Party of Lincoln?

I often hear on TV news, panel and political shows when a Republican states that they are the party of Lincoln. The party that freed the slaves when Democrats wanted to keep them enslaved. 

I say BS. While the 1860 Republican party, a new group, was mostly abolitionist in platform, they were not as anti-slavery as some would want us to remember. Even Lincoln was hesitant to sign the Emancipation Proclamation. He was willing to free the slaves, but not give them equal status as human beings and citizens. 

I digress. From the time of the Civil War until the 1960's, about a century, the Democrats ruled the South. That was mostly an anti-Republican reaction to Lincoln freeing the slaves and the Reconstruction that followed the war. The grudge lasted a long time. 

Those Democrats and Republicans of 1860 are nothing like the Democrats and Republicans of today. Up until recently, both parties had diverse membership. There were liberal Republicans and conservative Democrats. There were also moderates in both camps. That began to change in the 60's with Goldwater and came to fruition with Reagan in 1980. By then the Republicans were mostly on the right and Democrats were mostly on the left.

Even as the parties began to become more polarized there was still some sorting out to do. Despite the Lincoln/Republican feelings, southern Democrats began to defect from the party. They more identified with the conservative policies of the Republicans. Within a generation or so, the white south went from 99% Democratic to majority Republican. Check it out, many prominent southern Republicans over 50 years old were Democrats a few years ago. 

The parties have almost completely flipped. Because of that, I find it disingenuous for current Republicans to say they are the party of Lincoln so therefore can not be racist or discriminatory. After all, Lincoln freed the slaves. Yes. Lincoln did but I wonder how many current Republicans would if they had that choice.?

Roosevelt, the second one (FDR), and Johnson, the second one (LBJ) did more for civil rights than any Republican president. Truman, another Democrat, integrated the military. 

Neither party can take credit for stuff that happened 150 years ago. They have both morphed multiple times. Judge each on their platforms and voting records for the past few years. 

Republicans in South Carolina fought to keep the Confederate flag at the state capitol. Not very Lincoln like. Both because African-Americans identify that flag as a symbol of slavery and because Lincoln wanted to heal the fractured Union. One nation, one flag.

It's OK for each major party to have their platforms and ideals. It is not OK to conjure up party ideals of the distant past to camouflage the current platform. Especially when they are diametrically opposed principals. The current Republicans are more like Reagan, Bush and Bush than Lincoln. The current Democrats are more like Clinton, Obama and Clinton than the 1860 party. And of course, Trump is like no one.

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