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Carter put By CHRIS DEESE Gamecock Staff Writer Southern politics have changed dramatically in the past 25 years, especially regarding the emergence of black political nnn/ar o no nnl rwf rvr?l ifinol cnion_ pVfTVI y U pUIIVl VI pVllUVCII OVIVIl tists said Thursday in a discussion > at Gambrell Hall. "The central theme of political change in the South is the emergence of blacks," said Jack Bass, writer-in-residence at S.C. State College. Other panelists were Walter DeVries, a private consultant for a public opinion polling service and co-author with Bass of "The Transformation of Southern ' < Politics," and Earl Black, of USC's department of government & inV ternational studies and writer of "Southern Governors and Civil Rights." hi The three panelists agreed that future shifts in the Southern political structure will not be ignored by the rest of the country. "Carter brought the South into the national mainstream, Mass saia. BASS SAID a black person who couldn't even vote until passage of the Voting Rights Act in 1955, now has a chance to be a vice( presidential nominee. "It would still be a political liability," he said, "but not a great one." I^ast year a bill to extend the , Voting Rights Act until 1983 came , before the Senate, Bass said, "and 1 Wmen't Educaii TO TALK WITH SOA FOR TODA free pregnane problem pregn and referral abortion refer birth control & v.d. testing referral to agencies & medi our contacts af 254-4 OR CALL TOLL 1-800-92: 1614 TWO f* ItfPP Df WT/T runiit pnuuv 1 ffU^eil HOUfc SHOW ifHWUMiarWL* South back two-thirds of Southern Democrats supported it-the first time a majority of Southern Democrats voted for civil rights legislation." He said the vote was 9-6 for the extension. In 1966. it was 5-1 against a similar proposal. Black said the racial emphasis snm in southern politics was evident in development of the Republicans' "Southern strategy." ' He said, "The Southern strategy is that black votes don't count. It's hunting where the ducks are; make up for lost black votes by gaining white Southern voters." Goldwater used this strategy and carried the Deep South in 1964, Black said. "This was the last great election preceding massive black voter registration," said Black. "It was essentially a white election." THE STRATEGY worked in 1968 because Wu'lace's third-party candidacy divided the Democrats and thus weakened the Democratic vote. The strategy also worked four years later "because of the weakness of the Democratic candidate (McGovern)." These were two instances of failure of the traditional bloc voting, according to party. "It wasn't until 1976 that the Southern strategy got its first real test-for the first time since 1964, a Democratic candidate was expected to retain a substantial majority of white voters," Black said. "The Republicans lost the BMaC SfiJtlltCfiA- Qlir. AEONE WHO CARES Y'S WOMAN Y TESTING IANCY COUNSELING RAL FAMILY PLANNING SOCIAL SERVICE CAL FACILITIES IB CONFIDENTIAL 371 FREE IN S C. 2-9750 JOTCH ROAD llll iSu I in nation a] election by losing the South, in which they'd invested so much for the last 10 years." DeVries said the national Republican party reached a low point in 1974, "but '76 was lower still." He said the South, except for Virginia, voted for a Democratic president for the first time since 1944. Bass said out of 12 counties in aoum Carolina with a majority of blacks, 65 per cent voted for Carter; in 34 other counties, the percentage was 55.5, per cent. "THERE IS no strong Republican leadership on the horizon," DeVries said. State legislatures will reapportion Congress in 1980. "They're not likely to give Republicans any breaks," he said. There are now only 12 Republican governors in the country, and the Democratic party controls 35 state legislatures, Fine Food Sj 11:30 A.M. - CI Happy Hour 4-> CM Ladies9 Nite - \ I political ii he said. BLACK TURNED the discussion to patterns of voting in national elections in the South. He said mountain areas, especially of Virginia, Tennessee and North Carolina, are traditionally Republican. Bass said, "These people's ancestors sided with the Union in the Civil War, and the GOP is historically strong here." Ua '? * 4 * >v oaiu H1C icspuiibf 111 1W? 10 the Southern strategy of Goldwater was that areas that had been solidly Democratic became almost solidly Republican. There was another change in 1968 when George Wallace ran on an independent party ticket, he said. Republican counties dwindled, "and the Democrats were wiped out in most of their traditional counties," he said. Another major change in Southern politics reduced power in Congress. In the Senate, only six ririts Lose 6 ABC Ved. 9:00 lainstream committee chairmen are Southerners. "This is the fewest of any Democrat-controlled Senate in * recent history," Bass said. "Thev may bedvinffoff."hpnHHo^ rur*u_ - -w ?i ? vi uit; six, four are at least 72 years old. * He said the House hasn't fared much better: last year the South lost four chairmanships. In postWatergate 1974, Republicans lost 20 per cent of their Congressional seats and 30 per cent of their seats in state legislatures. He displayed a chart showing party domination or competition in the South. "In 1945, South Carolina was 100 per cent Democratic," he said, adding that moderate oneparty domination existed in Virginia, North Carolina and Tennessee. "The greatest change from '45 to '63 was in South Carolina and Tennessee," he said. The chart, he said, "confirms our own " subjective feelings of Republican strength in the South." r*S 900 8. Main 771-0186 Permit - B685