No one is going to argue against the Party of Lincoln, or even that of Eisenhower. But a whole lot of us, not just here in Mudcat land, see something else entirely in the current crop of Republican politicians and pundits.

It's also a fairly well-known historical fact that for over a century between the civil war and the civil rights movement, the Democratic Party maintained a stranglehold on the (voting) South by providing a home for its segregationist white majority.

Things started to change pretty quickly with the advent of Nixon's "Southern Strategy," which saw virtually every white-supremecist "Dixiecrat" switch parties.

While it is obvious incorrect, and an oversimplification, to maintain that every Republican is a racist and a bigot, it's not far from the truth to observe that any and every racist and bigot who is moved to join one or the other political party is most likely going to be heartily welcomed by the GOP.