Conclusion: The Future of the Southern Democrats and American Party Factionalism in the 1990s

Abstract

Abstract Given the spectacular success of the all-southern Democratic Clinton- Gore ticket in 1992, the short-term prospects for the southern wing of the Democratic party would appear to be very bright indeed. In defiance of the apparent logic of the presidential nominating process during the 1968-88 period, an ostensibly moderate southerner was able to win the Democratic presidential nomination with ease and end more than a decade of Republican domination of the presidency. Whereas from the Civil War up to almost the end of the New Deal era it was virtually inconceivable that the Democratic party would nominate a southerner for president, since 1964 the only times when the Democratic party has won presidential elections has been with southern nominees: Johnson, Carter, and now Clinton. Yet parties exist not only to win elections but also to govern in accordance with a set of principles or policies, and the reemergence of the southern wing of the Democratic party needs to be confirmed by a successful Clinton presidency followed by reelection in 1996. Failure in office for a second time might well doom the southern conservative wing of the party to a further spell in the wilderness while the Republicans dominate the White House.