I don't see how LBJ could have had that much control, having only been a Senator. Had he been Governor, he could have appointed political cronies to high positions, but I just can't see how a Senator could have that much power to manufacture that many votes.
Nym, by this I take it that you are the first democrat I have met who agrees that Tom DeLay does not control Texas.
(after all he was not a governor there)
Actually you would be right. Neither he nor LBJ ever has controlled Texas. They did and do have a huge amount of respect and influence predicated upon their national status and ability to deliver for Texas.
However do any of you really believe either a Republican or Democrat candidate in the 1960's had to personally control a state party machinery to get it to fix elections for him???
I do believe there was "fixing" in Texas and Illinois and it had less to do with Kennedy or Johnson's personal power than with the vested interest of state parties to see their man in the White House.