Phillips' Thirty Year Vision of Conservative Rule Might Be Coming To A Close

By Dennis Francis
In this time of political change, we are reminded of the early 60's harbinger of change; the implementation of the Nixon Southern Strategy. There was a time back in the sixties, when the vast majority of working people unabashedly called themselves Democrats. Many Republicans and Democrats called themselves Liberals.

After thirty years of intense Conservative marketing, calling yourself a liberal seems to be as popular as calling yourself a communist. The man who predicted the tectonic political shift was a scholarly man by the name of Kevin Phillips. If you have some time to kill, read a book called The emerging Republican Majority.

Mr. Phillips wasn't the architect of the infamous Southern Strategy but he did, like John the Baptist, foretell the coming change in national preference. And like old John, Mr. Phillips was shuffled off to obscurity after divining the future.

The idea of political parties in the U.S., was frowned on at the birth of the country for many reasons including the polarization that it would cause. Remember that the country was not completely united against England. Many of the very wealthy fled to Canada and back to England during and after the war.

The real sentiments that preside in this country more closely follow ideology than party. For instance, the Democrats of today would not want to admit that they were once the party of slavery or the party of political fiefdom. The modern Republican party can't even remember the days when they were the liberal reform party. The party of progressives who sought to free the slaves, the founders of women's liberation and the original pro choice movement.

What we really have is an age old split between the idea of who should govern. The conservative movement, verses the progressive movement. This ideological divide was evident during the constant struggle to form our style of government. The enlightenment philosophers such as John Locke, David Hume and others were influential but so were biblical scholars and theologians. The constitutional compromises favored the liberals but the conservatives have never given up.

Many people consider the word liberal to be a slur these days because of the concerted by the conservatives during the 1980's. They were able to wrest the white working class voting population from the Democratic party during Richard Nixon's campaign by subtle race baiting and class division.

The infamous "Southern Strategy; created by Harry Dent created a long term division in the Democratic party. It divided the country into what we now consider the Red and Blue states. Kevin Phillips accurately predicted that the Republican party would by the seventies, incorporate the conservative philosophy, organize the disaffected ethnic whites who were traditionally conservative and create a wedge of class and ethnic hostility toward Jews, "Negroes", Latinos and Northeastern white intellectuals who were considerably more liberal. He gave the strategy about 30 years to take hold. Phillips was right on the money.

The strategy is not talked about these days because to discuss it would mean opening up a political wound in regards to race, ethnicity, xenophobia and class issues. It would expose the conservatives to be more interested in power for the sake of power than the grand Republican ideology of sound but limited government and fiscal responsibility.

The shady cabal who gave us the union of the Religious Right and the Sir Edmund Burke Conservatives will have us believe that they care for the common man.

The idea of the Liberal elite came about in the 60's as a way of explaining to the white ethnic working class voters ( Northern Europeans, Irish, Italians, Scandinavians, ect) why the Democratic party's Intellectuals were favoring the "Negroes" and "Latins" who were moving up from the south and the southwest to the Northeast during the early 50's and 60's. The emergence of Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton as major candidates for the office of president has thrown the specter of race and class again into the

Phillips, the herald of the Conservative age who although marginalized by his peers; was proven prophetic. His forecast of the political trend's longevity foretold it's end in the beginning of the 21st century. Will he be proven right again? The Liberal elites might also lose their clout a new emerging power; the collective purse of the web populace.

Ron Paul is waging a quite revolution in the country. The Goldwater Libertarian is grabbing cash and taking names. I recommend that you pick up a copy of Phillip's book at a bookstore near you.

Dennis Morales Francis is a consultant and coach for business professionals and wellness practitioners. His website, offers its members online coaching on building Internet income and automating their marketing on and off the web. Dennis is the author of "Double My Revenues In 12 Months or Less".