Hey, Washington Monthly: Jefferson Davis was a Democrat

Writing today in The Washington Monthly, Steve Benen accuses the GOP of going From the Party of Bush to the Party of Jefferson Davis.  His point, it seems, is that questioning whether the 14th Amendment guarantees citizenship to children born in the USA of people here illegally is akin to advocating slavery.  Such absurdity is not worth refuting. I will, however, point out a fact that Benen overlooks -- the Party of Jefferson Davis is the DEMOCRATIC PARTY.

Indeed, the Democratic Party was the Party of Slavery, and Democrats were known as "Slave-ocrats" by the GOP.  Yes, Jefferson Davis was a Democrat, as were all the Confederates.  Not one Republican fought against the Union during the Civil War.

Benen does mention the Heroes and Accomplishments sections of the RNC website.  It is worth explaining that I wrote the Heroes and Accomplishments sections of the RNC website.  The information is based on Back to Basics for the Republican Party, my history of the GOP cited by Clarence Thomas in a Supreme Court decision.  I also wrote the 2005 Republican Freedom Calendar, with its daily list of GOP heroics and Democrat perfidy.

In today's Washington Post, E.J. Dionne accuses the GOP of shedding a birthright.  Like Benen, he argues that the framers of the 14th Amendment -- all Republicans, by the way -- had in mind what Dionne and Benen and so many other Democrats say they intended back in the 1860s.  The Democrats opposed the 14th Amendment yet now assert that they know best what Rep. John Bingham (R-OH) meant when he wrote it.

Grand Old Partisan salutes John Bingham [pictured], principal author of the 14th Amendment and a great REPUBLICAN.

The purpose of my book and speeches (in 30 states so far) and email blasts and Grand Old Partisan blog is to show Republicans that they should appreciate our party's heritage.  By ignoring the heritage of our Grand Old Party, Republicans place themselves on the defensive and make themselves vulnerable to Democrat demagoguery, such as the latest from Benen and Dionne.

Comments

[Michael Zak]

Rick, Andrew Jackson (and Martin Van Buren) started the Democratic Party. Jackson was adamantly against secession.

[Rick Fisk]

Here's more proof that history only goes as far back as is convenient for some people.

For most Republicans 1979 is as far back as one should go when talking about Iran, and 1991 the furthest one need go when talking about Iraq.

Of course that is only of marginal interest since all politics should really begin on 9/11.

Who started the Democrat party anyway? Wasn't it a dude who believed that it was the right of a state to secede?

[Ron Gudgen]

It makes more sense to define people along political philosophies than along party lines. I'm a conservative through and through. I'd vote for a conservative Democrat over a liberal Republican and vice versa. I was also born and reared in the South as was my ancestors back to the 1700's when they settled in North Carolina and Lousiana. I have ancestors that died in the Civil War and I don't appreciate them being referred to as rats. They were strong believers in States rights and the 10th amendment, a belief that Conservatives honor today. Take a minute and educate yourself by reading the Constitution of the C.S.A. It is, in many ways a better document than the U.S. Constitution. While you're at it, educate yourself about Lincoln and his views on slavery.

[Michael Zak]

In the 1860 presidential election, Abraham Lincoln received ZERO votes in the South, except for 1,000 or so in the area that would become West Virginia.

[William Barrett]

I would be shocked to discover that ALL Confederates were Democrats. I am pretty confident that there were citizens of the C.S.A. that voted for Lincoln (before it became the C.S.A., of course). My guess is that you mean that the LEADERS of the C.S.A. were all Democrats. Now that I can believe.

[Robert]

The Rats have always been the party of racism. Over 200K Republicans died to end slavery and over 400,000 racist 'Rats died trying to preserve it. When they got their political power back, the Rats set about constructing the Jim Crow society that kept blacks from full citizenship for most of another century.