The last election in which the Democratic candidate was more conservative?

[Deldem]

Johnson was without a doubt the most liberal Southern Senator in 1960.  The only others who even occasionally voted liberally on domestic issues were Ralph Yarborough, Lister Hill, Al Gore, and Estes Kefauver.

Ralph Yarborough was on LBJ's left, though not by much.

Not 1960. LBJ's position on the left of the old Southern Democrats is even more clearcut than Carter's. Kennedy sure had some Conservative baggage, but it's not as if Nixon was ever a Liberal Republican either. If Kennedy had ever run against Eisenhower, you might conceivably have a case. Yeah sure, the Reps had a civil rights plank in their platform in 1960 - the prize for an unanimous nomination when everybody knew Nixon would win a vote against Rockefeller but by an unimpressive and possibly by an embarassingly small margin. So?

LBJ was on the left of the Southern Democrats, sure, but he still voted with them. He was no Claude Pepper; he was just on the right, rather than the far right. Certainly, he was well to the right of Lodge.

Joe Kennedy, on the other hand, was hard right, and it ought to be remembered that the Kennedys were McCarthyists. Walter Reuther didn't like them, and for good reason. Nixon, while not a liberal by any means, was certainly supportive of civil rights as Vice President. As I recall, he tried to pull a gambit to end the filibuster while presiding over the Senate.

John Kennedy was definitely not a conservative. Remember, it was primarily his father that was the McCarthyist. While not an eager civil rights guy, JFK was somewhat supportive and his brother made it a big issue in his time as Attorney General. And his social policies were definitely more on the left. And there's the fact that he's one of the last politicians to proudly take up the label of the liberal.

If Nixon is so supportive of civil rights, explain his totally shameless use of the Southern Strategy in 1968 and 1972 to me. I'll be damned if he wasn't trying to get up his racist white southern appeal there.

Please, enlighten me on how LBJ was conservative (excluding Vietnam, which honestly was not consistently opposed by the Democratic Party as a whole until after LBJ was gone) Last time I checked, he was the reason Civil Rights passed and that Medicare was created. I guess that whole Great Society thing totally reeks of conservative philosophy, right?

To answer the topic's question, I'd say 1904. Though it's worth noting that in 1912, TR was more liberal than Wilson, and he was the second place finisher in that election, rather than Republican nominee Taft.

[Deldem]

Not 1960. LBJ's position on the left of the old Southern Democrats is even more clearcut than Carter's. Kennedy sure had some Conservative baggage, but it's not as if Nixon was ever a Liberal Republican either. If Kennedy had ever run against Eisenhower, you might conceivably have a case. Yeah sure, the Reps had a civil rights plank in their platform in 1960 - the prize for an unanimous nomination when everybody knew Nixon would win a vote against Rockefeller but by an unimpressive and possibly by an embarassingly small margin. So?

LBJ was on the left of the Southern Democrats, sure, but he still voted with them. He was no Claude Pepper; he was just on the right, rather than the far right. Certainly, he was well to the right of Lodge.

Joe Kennedy, on the other hand, was hard right, and it ought to be remembered that the Kennedys were McCarthyists. Walter Reuther didn't like them, and for good reason. Nixon, while not a liberal by any means, was certainly supportive of civil rights as Vice President. As I recall, he tried to pull a gambit to end the filibuster while presiding over the Senate.

John Kennedy was definitely not a conservative. Remember, it was primarily his father that was the McCarthyist. While not an eager civil rights guy, JFK was somewhat supportive and his brother made it a big issue in his time as Attorney General. And his social policies were definitely more on the left. And there's the fact that he's one of the last politicians to proudly take up the label of the liberal.

If Nixon is so supportive of civil rights, explain his totally shameless use of the Southern Strategy in 1968 and 1972 to me. I'll be damned if he wasn't trying to get up his racist white southern appeal there.

Please, enlighten me on how LBJ was conservative (excluding Vietnam, which honestly was not consistently opposed by the Democratic Party as a whole until after LBJ was gone) Last time I checked, he was the reason Civil Rights passed and that Medicare was created. I guess that whole Great Society thing totally reeks of conservative philosophy, right?

I'm going of off what we knew in 1960. Johnson was probably the most left-wing President we've ever had, and Nixon moved well to the right, at least partly because of that. But in the Senate, Johnson was on the right, and Nixon was not. As a Senator, Kennedy's voting record was certainly not more liberal than Lodge's.

LBJ still wasn't conservative though. He was consistently pro-Civil Rights (Didn't even sign the Southern Manifesto), and wasn't extremely active in the red-baiting that basically defined Richard Nixon's time in Congress.

Also, LBJ was pro-New Deal and Nixon supported Taft-Hartley. Granted, LBJ wasn't the most liberal member of Congress, but he really was left of center- just not to the extent he showed as president. As to Nixon, I'd say he was about the same in 1968 as in 1960: center-right.

While Kennedy may have been less liberal than Lodge, he certainly was more liberal than Nixon.

[Deldem]

Not 1960. LBJ's position on the left of the old Southern Democrats is even more clearcut than Carter's. Kennedy sure had some Conservative baggage, but it's not as if Nixon was ever a Liberal Republican either. If Kennedy had ever run against Eisenhower, you might conceivably have a case. Yeah sure, the Reps had a civil rights plank in their platform in 1960 - the prize for an unanimous nomination when everybody knew Nixon would win a vote against Rockefeller but by an unimpressive and possibly by an embarassingly small margin. So?

LBJ was on the left of the Southern Democrats, sure, but he still voted with them. He was no Claude Pepper; he was just on the right, rather than the far right. Certainly, he was well to the right of Lodge.

Joe Kennedy, on the other hand, was hard right, and it ought to be remembered that the Kennedys were McCarthyists. Walter Reuther didn't like them, and for good reason. Nixon, while not a liberal by any means, was certainly supportive of civil rights as Vice President. As I recall, he tried to pull a gambit to end the filibuster while presiding over the Senate.

John Kennedy was definitely not a conservative. Remember, it was primarily his father that was the McCarthyist. While not an eager civil rights guy, JFK was somewhat supportive and his brother made it a big issue in his time as Attorney General. And his social policies were definitely more on the left. And there's the fact that he's one of the last politicians to proudly take up the label of the liberal.

If Nixon is so supportive of civil rights, explain his totally shameless use of the Southern Strategy in 1968 and 1972 to me. I'll be damned if he wasn't trying to get up his racist white southern appeal there.

Please, enlighten me on how LBJ was conservative (excluding Vietnam, which honestly was not consistently opposed by the Democratic Party as a whole until after LBJ was gone) Last time I checked, he was the reason Civil Rights passed and that Medicare was created. I guess that whole Great Society thing totally reeks of conservative philosophy, right?

I'm going of off what we knew in 1960. Johnson was probably the most left-wing President we've ever had, and Nixon moved well to the right, at least partly because of that. But in the Senate, Johnson was on the right, and Nixon was not. As a Senator, Kennedy's voting record was certainly not more liberal than Lodge's.

LBJ still wasn't conservative though. He was consistently pro-Civil Rights (Didn't even sign the Southern Manifesto), and wasn't extremely active in the red-baiting that basically defined Richard Nixon's time in Congress.

Also, LBJ was pro-New Deal and Nixon supported Taft-Hartley. Granted, LBJ wasn't the most liberal member of Congress, but he really was left of center- just not to the extent he showed as president. As to Nixon, I'd say he was about the same in 1968 as in 1960: center-right.

While Kennedy may have been less liberal than Lodge, he certainly was more liberal than Nixon.

LBJ didn't sign the Southern Manifesto becasue of his Senatorial position. On every issue that mattered, he voted with the South. Kennedy, when he voted, was not at all left-wing; he despised liberals.

Then explain the Civil Rights Act of 1957. Sure, it wasn't the most effective piece of legislation, but LBJ did vote for it. Provide some examples of his conservatism in the Senate, I'm having trouble finding some between 1957 and 1960, the last few years of his term. Certainly, he associated with Southern Dems, but that was the only way he could get ahead. I think it was more his opportunism, rather than any ideological issue.

Explain this quote:

"What do our opponents mean when they apply to us the label "Liberal?" If by "Liberal" they mean, as they want people to believe, someone who is soft in his policies abroad, who is against local government, and who is unconcerned with the taxpayer's dollar, then the record of this party and its members demonstrate that we are not that kind of "Liberal." But if by a "Liberal" they mean someone who looks ahead and not behind, someone who welcomes new ideas without rigid reactions, someone who cares about the welfare of the people -- their health, their housing, their schools, their jobs, their civil rights, and their civil liberties -- someone who believes we can break through the stalemate and suspicions that grip us in our policies abroad, if that is what they mean by a "Liberal," then I'm proud to say I'm a "Liberal."

JFK

Hates liberals, my ass.