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Article published Aug 24, 2003
Race, Reagan revolution shift power to Republicans

AMY GEIER EDGAR
Associated Press

COLUMBIA -- When Malloy McEachin began serving in the South Carolina House of Representatives in 1979, Democrats were firmly in control of the Legislature and the governor's office.Almost 25 years later, there has been a complete shift in power. Republicans have gained control of state government for the first time since Reconstruction.Democrats here stand little chance of getting elected if they identify too closely with the national party or take a liberal stand on issues that have become standard Democratic fare in other parts of the country."We have Republican dominance and selective Democratic competition," said University of South Carolina political scientist Blease Graham.Political observers say racial issues and the Reagan revolution were major factors in the reversal of power in South Carolina.When McEachin began serving his first term in 1979, there were 108 Democrats and 16 Republicans in the state House. In the state Senate, there were 43 Democrats and three Republicans. Democrat Richard W. Riley was in the governor's office.The Democrats took for granted that South Carolina would continue to vote for them, said state Democratic Party Chairman Joe Erwin."Ultimately we have to accept responsibility," he said. "We've not done a good job of showing them that we remain the party for working people. We have not reached out to those folks enough. Republicans did reach out to them."Democrats lost control of the South Carolina House in 1994. In 2001, a party switcher gave the GOP control of the Senate. And when Republican Mark Sanford beat incumbent Democrat Jim Hodges in the governor's race last year, the GOP made history by dominating state government.Today, the House is made up of 73 Republicans and 51 Democrats, and the Senate has 25 Republicans and 21 Democrats.Democrats also face a challenge to retain the seat of Sen. Ernest "Fritz" Hollings, who plans to retire when his term ends in 2004. The state's congressional delegation consists of five Republicans and three Democrats."Symbolically, it's going to be awfully important for the Democrats to win this Senate seat," Graham said. "If the Democrats don't take that seat ... there really aren't any major officeholders."Currently Hollings, Treasurer Grady Patterson and Education Superintendent Inez Tenenbaum -- who is seeking Hollings' seat -- are the only Democrats elected statewide.South Carolina has become racially polarized in the past two decades and political parties reflect that, said U.S.Rep. Jim Clyburn, who was elected in 1992 as the state's first black congressman since Reconstruction."We've had issues that defined the parties over the years along racial lines," Clyburn said, citing the Confederate flag and redistricting as examples.In 1964, Democratic President Lyndon B. Johnson passed the Civil Rights Act. Republican presidential nominee Sen. Barry Goldwater opposed the measure.That same year, Sen. Strom Thurmond of South Carolina switched parties and threw his support behind Goldwater. And 1964 marked the first time since 1876 that the state voted Republican in a presidential election.Gradually, more white Democrats followed Thurmond's lead and began switching to the GOP. In 1974, James Edwards became the first Republican governor in South Carolina in more than 98 years.Although political structure in South Carolina began changing in the 1970s, party identification didn't change drastically until President Ronald Reagan took office in 1981.Until then, conservative South Carolinians still identified themselves as Democrats. But Reagan was responsible for a great deal of party-changing in the 1980s, Graham said.McEachin, a lawyer who represented a majority white district in Florence County, said he was approached in the 1980s about switching parties. He declined."I guess I'm a creature of habit. I had my fusses with Democrats, but that's how I was elected, and I thought that's how I should stay. I still feel the Democratic Party is the best party to be in," said McEachin, 52.Reagan's ideas on tax cuts, smaller government and a stronger military appealed to many South Carolinians, Graham said."That's what energized me to continue to work actively in the Republican Party," said state GOP Chairman Katon Dawson. "The message that we could do better, the message that being conservative, being very careful with the people's money, I think that's why we're successful today."Dawson remembers being teased as a child because his family switched from the Democratic Party to the GOP in the 1960s. "I got kicked off the bus for being for Goldwater. The bus driver was for Lyndon Johnson. Made me walk home," he said."South Carolina has shifted. Moderate Democrats now are moderate Republicans," Dawson said.Reagan "helped pull a lot of people away" from the Democratic Party, Erwin said. "We lost these folks and the fight to get them back is a hard one."Erwin said he doesn't think he can get those voters to switch parties again. Instead, his focus is largely on drawing in a new generation of Democrats.Young Democrats, motivated by the war in Iraq and a sluggish economy, have had an increased interest in world events and how their country is run, Erwin said.The state's Feb. 3 Democratic presidential primary, the first in the South, also has sparked renewed interest in the party, Erwin said.The party is weakened but can be reorganized and reinvigorated, Graham said, and the primary should help."The Democrats are risking a lot, but it's the kind of risk they have to take," he said.