The future of the GOP's demographics

[Maistre]

First, the Southern strategy was about outreach to suburban, moderate Southerners, not white racists. 

Who told you this?

White residents in Southern metropolitan areas (I'm assuming what you mean by "moderate" (lol) white suburban southerners) were already a good base of support for the Republicans before the infamous 'southern strategy'. This was not because of some sort of tactic but mere demographic change, the South was catching up economically with the rest of the nation. Southerners and non-Southerners were moving away from Yankeeland/rural Southern areas to better opportunities in the more urban areas.

The 'Southern Strategy' (and Goldwater came up with it first) was about shoring up the rest of the Southern white vote, or as Goldwater put it, "hunt where the ducks are."

[Maistre]

Well, yes, that 'one election' was also when the Goldwater campaign tried to woo the white South. It was your insinuation that somehow the 'Southern strategy' was about wooing Southerners in the urban and suburban areas, but I just showed you that those areas were voting Republican before the 'Southern strategy' took place.

FWIW, here is the guy the Nixon administration recruited to run for Governor in 1970.

[Maistre]

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I don't want anything champ. I don't particularly have a personal connection with things that happened 50 years ago. I merely deal with facts.

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Many did. Southern suburbs did not. To them, Wallace was a low class demagogue who did not mesh with middle-class respectability. (Good old Strom was ok though)

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Well, lol at that last one. But people weren't exactly flocking to the Wallace campaign because of his views on Medicare or whatever. North or South.

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Of course, he was a good Southern boy. That was why they voted for him. This wasn't particularly indicative of any trends or demographic changes. To say this is a reason Wallace 1968 voters would have supported HHH is madness.

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ok; organize this stuff into something relevant.

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Of course. Nixon could not embrace Wallace because it would hurt him elsewhere. But to think that Nixon's strategy was to reach "racially-progressive" voters in Southern suburbs is pure insanity. If you disagree, please explain the policies Nixon advocated to reach these suburban racial progressives in the South.

Was it perhaps advocating busing? Housing? What policies?

[Maistre]

For what it's worth, the Nixon administration and Southern Republicans did try to go after the Wallace vote (call it Southern Strategy 1.2) in the 1970 midterm elections. This was after Nixon's attempt at offing George Wallace failed, leading Southern Republicans to try to imitate him to win elections, but it largely failed (Albert Watson being a good example).

It wasn't until Reagan that the alignment was complete.