For the last eight years, thank you, Mr. President

[Antonio the Sixth]

I was so ready to share in the celebration of one of the best Presidents in history. Then...

[White Trash]

Uh, yeah I'm alright.

Are you sure?

Look at what you've done BRTD! You've got them Yankee RINOs quoting me!

Haha, funny thing is the only "Yankee" thing about me is I'm from north of the Mason Dixon, though that's how I assume you meant it.

Proud German descendent!

A Yankee, is a Yankee, is a Yankee. Whether he's a lopeared Dutchman or a bow-legged Bogtrotter! (Both historical terms if you look them up)

Pretty hard to imagine a Democrat calling a Republican a damned Yankee in the year 2016. 

As a Dutchman from the Midwest I have a feeling you'd say the same about my type as RINO Tom's haha.

Bloody foreigners the lot of ye! Don't get nary a bit near my holler out yonder, ye hear? Or else I'd be fixin' to skin the lot o' you carpetbaggin' Yankee folk!

Saw a hilarious article about Ross Barnett arguing for the preservation of a one-party state in the South because "carpet baggin' Yankee Republicans were gonna come in and ruin everythin'."  Haha.

Was he wrong? (Link to the article if you have it, sounds interesting.)

Couldn't find article (it was a long time ago), but it quotes it on his Wikipedia page:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ross_Barnett

Just <Control F> "Yankee."  It really backs up the theory that a huge factor of the South becoming more favorable to Republicans was the influx of conservative Northerners.

Haven't seen much data to back that. The influx of Northerners to South didn't really come until the late 80s/ early 90s.

[RINO Tom]

Uh, yeah I'm alright.

Are you sure?

Look at what you've done BRTD! You've got them Yankee RINOs quoting me!

Haha, funny thing is the only "Yankee" thing about me is I'm from north of the Mason Dixon, though that's how I assume you meant it.

Proud German descendent!

A Yankee, is a Yankee, is a Yankee. Whether he's a lopeared Dutchman or a bow-legged Bogtrotter! (Both historical terms if you look them up)

Pretty hard to imagine a Democrat calling a Republican a damned Yankee in the year 2016. 

As a Dutchman from the Midwest I have a feeling you'd say the same about my type as RINO Tom's haha.

Bloody foreigners the lot of ye! Don't get nary a bit near my holler out yonder, ye hear? Or else I'd be fixin' to skin the lot o' you carpetbaggin' Yankee folk!

Saw a hilarious article about Ross Barnett arguing for the preservation of a one-party state in the South because "carpet baggin' Yankee Republicans were gonna come in and ruin everythin'."  Haha.

Was he wrong? (Link to the article if you have it, sounds interesting.)

Couldn't find article (it was a long time ago), but it quotes it on his Wikipedia page:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ross_Barnett

Just <Control F> "Yankee."  It really backs up the theory that a huge factor of the South becoming more favorable to Republicans was the influx of conservative Northerners.

Haven't seen much data to back that. The influx of Northerners to South didn't really come until the late 80s/ early 90s.

And that's when the GOP started to really make gains...?

[White Trash]

Uh, yeah I'm alright.

Are you sure?

Look at what you've done BRTD! You've got them Yankee RINOs quoting me!

Haha, funny thing is the only "Yankee" thing about me is I'm from north of the Mason Dixon, though that's how I assume you meant it.

Proud German descendent!

A Yankee, is a Yankee, is a Yankee. Whether he's a lopeared Dutchman or a bow-legged Bogtrotter! (Both historical terms if you look them up)

Pretty hard to imagine a Democrat calling a Republican a damned Yankee in the year 2016. 

As a Dutchman from the Midwest I have a feeling you'd say the same about my type as RINO Tom's haha.

Bloody foreigners the lot of ye! Don't get nary a bit near my holler out yonder, ye hear? Or else I'd be fixin' to skin the lot o' you carpetbaggin' Yankee folk!

Saw a hilarious article about Ross Barnett arguing for the preservation of a one-party state in the South because "carpet baggin' Yankee Republicans were gonna come in and ruin everythin'."  Haha.

Was he wrong? (Link to the article if you have it, sounds interesting.)

Couldn't find article (it was a long time ago), but it quotes it on his Wikipedia page:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ross_Barnett

Just <Control F> "Yankee."  It really backs up the theory that a huge factor of the South becoming more favorable to Republicans was the influx of conservative Northerners.

Haven't seen much data to back that. The influx of Northerners to South didn't really come until the late 80s/ early 90s.

And that's when the GOP started to really make gains...?

I don't have the numbers to show that the number of Northern migrants were enough to sway elections. I'll have to look into that.

[RINO Tom]

Uh, yeah I'm alright.

Are you sure?

Look at what you've done BRTD! You've got them Yankee RINOs quoting me!

Haha, funny thing is the only "Yankee" thing about me is I'm from north of the Mason Dixon, though that's how I assume you meant it.

Proud German descendent!

A Yankee, is a Yankee, is a Yankee. Whether he's a lopeared Dutchman or a bow-legged Bogtrotter! (Both historical terms if you look them up)

Pretty hard to imagine a Democrat calling a Republican a damned Yankee in the year 2016. 

As a Dutchman from the Midwest I have a feeling you'd say the same about my type as RINO Tom's haha.

Bloody foreigners the lot of ye! Don't get nary a bit near my holler out yonder, ye hear? Or else I'd be fixin' to skin the lot o' you carpetbaggin' Yankee folk!

Saw a hilarious article about Ross Barnett arguing for the preservation of a one-party state in the South because "carpet baggin' Yankee Republicans were gonna come in and ruin everythin'."  Haha.

Was he wrong? (Link to the article if you have it, sounds interesting.)

Couldn't find article (it was a long time ago), but it quotes it on his Wikipedia page:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ross_Barnett

Just <Control F> "Yankee."  It really backs up the theory that a huge factor of the South becoming more favorable to Republicans was the influx of conservative Northerners.

Haven't seen much data to back that. The influx of Northerners to South didn't really come until the late 80s/ early 90s.

And that's when the GOP started to really make gains...?

I don't have the numbers to show that the number of Northern migrants were enough to sway elections. I'll have to look into that.

I mean, I'm not saying it was the sole cause.  Social issues becoming more important (specifically evangelicals in the North becoming politically active for the first time, almost exclusively in the GOP, and phrasing things as an us vs. them battle), changing national parties and, yes, race all played big roles.  However, GOP gains started in Southern suburbs, and these areas are where most Northern transplants were moving.  I think it's beyond debate that Northern Republican transplants were voting to the right of Yellow Dog Democrats in the South, and it's also pretty obvious that suburban voters in the South joined the Republican ranks first (tons of evidence to support this in many, many election maps).  Here's a perfect example: Eisenhower won a lot of Southern suburbs while losing most rural counties in the South, and he lost most states outside of the peripheral South.  Compare that to Reagan in 1980, who won most Southern states with close margins even though he succeeded in the same areas as Ike and Carter (like Stevenson) won the traditionally Democratic rural South; this time, the suburbs were able to outvote the rest of the state(s).

[White Trash]

Oh yeah I definitely agree that Northern transplants contributed to the end of the Solid South. But I think that they were likely a minor factor in the face of a myriad of much more prominent and further reaching factors. Northern migrants to Southern suburbs certainly helped in those areas, but there simply weren't enough conservative, Republican Northerners moving into the South to turn elections. Did they contribute? Certainly Were they the main cause? Certainly not. Were they even a major cause? Not likely.

[Kingpoleon]

If you want an example of it becoming more Republican as migrants form the North moved in, just look at Winthrop Rockefeller and his son.