The Ruins of an American Party System: From 1920 Onward
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Wilson's disastrous campaign hurt the Democrats in the House, as many Democratic voters stayed home, while Harding's coattails gained the Republicans many seats. The stronger Socialist and Farmer-Labor third party campaigns by many candidates split the traditionally Democratic vote and allowed the Republicans to make major gains. The victory for Socialist Meyer London in New York compensated for the Republican ouster of Socialist Victor Berger in their total sweep of Wisconsin. With the Republicans taking half of North Carolina's seats, and winning districts in Arkansas, Alabama, Georgia, Kentucky, Tennessee, Texas, and Virginia, the Democratic "Solid South" was broken. With more than a 3/4 majority, the Republicans presided over their largest majority since Reconstruction.
The Republicans gained 10 Senate seats from the Democrats as OTL. The only victories for the Democratic Party came from the South. North Carolina Senator Lee Slater Overman was the only close win for the Democrats. Had he polled as badly as Wilson in his state, Overman would have lost, but the Senator, by virtue of being entirely alive and able to really campaign, polled several points higher and won reelection.
(credit to Thande and his maps for helping me determine the Congressional result)
The Republicans gained 10 Senate seats from the Democrats as OTL. The only victories for the Democratic Party came from the South. North Carolina Senator Lee Slater Overman was the only close win for the Democrats. Had he polled as badly as Wilson in his state, Overman would have lost, but the Senator, by virtue of being entirely alive and able to really campaign, polled several points higher and won reelection.
(credit to Thande and his maps for helping me determine the Congressional result)
Through the end of the thirties at least, hopefully up to the early fifties.
Abhakhazia
Banned
This is wonderful. Kinda feeling sorry for old Woodrow, despite the fact I literally am cackling evilly at the thought of a completely smashed Democratic Party.
Also, are we about to see a hurried gerrymander of the Southern states by state legislatures to make sure the Democrats don't implode totally and manage to pick back up seats in '22? I remeber Thande mentioning how they didn't bother gerrymandering in the Solid South, because everyone voted for Democrats anyway, but if that changed, there may be some reassessment of the idea.
Also, are we about to see a hurried gerrymander of the Southern states by state legislatures to make sure the Democrats don't implode totally and manage to pick back up seats in '22? I remeber Thande mentioning how they didn't bother gerrymandering in the Solid South, because everyone voted for Democrats anyway, but if that changed, there may be some reassessment of the idea.
The Farmer-Labor Party, with more than three times the vote, is going to attract more popular support outside of Minnesota. If the national FLP does not get taken over by Communists, the reason OTL that La Follette did not run with them, might he join the Farmer-Labor party instead of forming his own Progressive Party? Or would his ego convince him to run on his own label, perhaps with an FLP endorsement?
Thande
Donor
Glad you were able to use the maps discussed above to create a TL--looking at the map of 1920 and seeing the light blue shades intruding into the Solid South it becomes natural to wonder what if the Republicans' landslide had been just that bit bigger.
In OTL the other thing at this point was that Congress refused to reapportion after the 1920 census because the urbanisation of the 1910s had changed things so much that a fair apportionment would destroy most incumbent Representatives' districts beyond all recognition. No idea what might happen in TTL.
Well it's not just that, it's also that there were many more options before the VRA and working out effective gerrymandering is a lot harder before computers. A more common method was simply to malapportion the districts so some have more voters than others. States could still impose restrictions on voting like having to pay a poll tax or own property--this was mainly used as a tool to exclude black voters in the South, of course, but they could tailor it to exclude white voters they don't like just as easily.
In OTL the other thing at this point was that Congress refused to reapportion after the 1920 census because the urbanisation of the 1910s had changed things so much that a fair apportionment would destroy most incumbent Representatives' districts beyond all recognition. No idea what might happen in TTL.
I was thinking of an unification of Farmer-Labor, Progressives and Socialists to form an Unionist Party.
In the North and West, things aren't that much different from OTL; just a couple close races turned out differently. The Republicans might be motivated to try and find some way to help their Southern representatives, without infuriating Southern white voters.
A quiet inauguration heralded the end of the brief Marshall Presidency and the beginning of the Harding Administration. The dark loneliness of the end of the Wilson years was lifted from the White House, and tours and Easter Egg hunts once more came to the Executive Mansion. The strong-looking President was adored by the press and the people. The Red Scare was over, and Eugene Debs, the man who got over a million votes from prison, was released. The horrors of the Great War were over; peace treaties with Germany and Austria were signed, and the last American troops came home, including those that had been stationed in Russia. The post-war Depression ended, as a massive economic boom began. Harding enacted massive tax cuts to stimulate the economy, and it worked. Some poor farmers protested the scale of Treasury Secretary Andrew Mellon, but the Republican majority was large enough to override those concerns. In order to prevent the massive tax cuts from creating a huge deficit, Harding signed the Budget and Accounting Act, establishing the Bureau of the Budget. He slashed the federal spending levels in half. The national debt, high during the war, started dropping. "Less government in business and more business in government" was Harding's slogan, and he did not lie. Conservatism triumphed.
All was not well, however. The Ku Klux Klan was more organized than ever, and on the rise, not only in the South, but across the entire nation. With it, lynchings in the South continued, as many Southern politicians decided to back it as a means to drive out the pesky Republican gains in the region. There was a small public outcry over the lynchings, but the President did nothing but give a few small speeches. The Republican leaders feared that if they were seen as the party for the black man, all of their progress in winning seats in the South would be instantly undone. Furthermore, not all the Klansmen were Democrats, and while Harding quietly opposed lynchings, his entire party did not. Unable to find an influential progressive Republican Senator such as William Borah, Hiram Johnson, George Norris, or Henry Cabot Lodge to introduce the anti-lynching law, supporters were forced to watch it be introduced by the inexperienced Samuel Shortridge, who was easily outmaneuvered by the Democratic minority. Tensions reached their worst point in Tulsa, Oklahoma where a group of blacks attempting to protect an accused man of being lynched fought back against the lynch mob, sparking a massive riot and drawing in the National Guard.
All was not well, however. The Ku Klux Klan was more organized than ever, and on the rise, not only in the South, but across the entire nation. With it, lynchings in the South continued, as many Southern politicians decided to back it as a means to drive out the pesky Republican gains in the region. There was a small public outcry over the lynchings, but the President did nothing but give a few small speeches. The Republican leaders feared that if they were seen as the party for the black man, all of their progress in winning seats in the South would be instantly undone. Furthermore, not all the Klansmen were Democrats, and while Harding quietly opposed lynchings, his entire party did not. Unable to find an influential progressive Republican Senator such as William Borah, Hiram Johnson, George Norris, or Henry Cabot Lodge to introduce the anti-lynching law, supporters were forced to watch it be introduced by the inexperienced Samuel Shortridge, who was easily outmaneuvered by the Democratic minority. Tensions reached their worst point in Tulsa, Oklahoma where a group of blacks attempting to protect an accused man of being lynched fought back against the lynch mob, sparking a massive riot and drawing in the National Guard.
W.E.B. DuBois said:
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Unionist is mostly good, but it invokes images of the Civil War political system.
Virginia had a particularly bad record in that respect. Iirc there were one or two elections where fewer votes were cast in VA than in WV, though VA had far more electoral votes.
As the 1922 Midterm Elections approached, the Republicans were in a state of worry. In general, no redistricting or reapportionment had been done to avoid the many rural representatives being swept out of office. However, the Republicans were afraid that most of their recent gains in the South would be undone instantly by Democratic intimidation. They gave up on the five Deep Southern Representatives that were swept in 1920 as a lost cause even if the elections were fair (and promised them appointments after they lost), but they were not willing to let go of the Upper South. Afraid that any overt action to block Democratic fraud would spark a racial scare which would damage the Republicans even more, the Republican leaders quietly met with the governments in the Southern States. The Southerners were informed that if there was any sign of irregularities regarding white Republican voters, the Republican supermajority would ram through a resurrected Force Bill. Unlike the ill-fated anti-Lynching Bill, Henry Cabot Lodge himself threatened to be the one to introduce this bill, and he would not be so easily overcome by procedural moves. The South agreed, and this deal probably saved the Republicans from losing all of their seats in Virginia and North Carolina, and a few more seats in Tennessee.
The 1922 Midterm Congressional Elections were generally successful for the Republican Party. Although they lost some seats, they managed to retain a supermajority in the House of Representatives. Part of this was due to their strength and the Democrats weakness after the 1920 landslide. Another factor was the large quantity of Farmer-Labor, Progressive, and Socialist third party candidates running, inspired by the strong third party performances of 1920, who split the anti-Republican vote. The Democrats did manage to win back a fair number of seats in the South, and a scattering of urban seats in the Northeast. Meanwhile, various third parties gained limited numbers of success. The Farmer-Labor Party won two seats in Minnesota, one in Washington, and one in Illinois, where 1920 Presidential candidate Parley Christensen, boosted by a fairly strong success, won a seat. Meanwhile, in Idaho the collapse of the state Democratic Party allowed two Progressive candidates to defeat the Republican representatives, and in Wisconsin, Victor Berger won his seat back, and a third-party Progressive, Henry Graass, was also elected to an open seat.
Perhaps the greatest failure of the Democrats was their complete failure in New York, where the revitalized Socialist-Farmer-Labor fusion, and the aftermath of their disastrous performance in 1920, cost the Democratic Party the Governorship and the Senate seat, and several other state-wide offices that had vote splitting.
The 1922 Midterm Congressional Elections were generally successful for the Republican Party. Although they lost some seats, they managed to retain a supermajority in the House of Representatives. Part of this was due to their strength and the Democrats weakness after the 1920 landslide. Another factor was the large quantity of Farmer-Labor, Progressive, and Socialist third party candidates running, inspired by the strong third party performances of 1920, who split the anti-Republican vote. The Democrats did manage to win back a fair number of seats in the South, and a scattering of urban seats in the Northeast. Meanwhile, various third parties gained limited numbers of success. The Farmer-Labor Party won two seats in Minnesota, one in Washington, and one in Illinois, where 1920 Presidential candidate Parley Christensen, boosted by a fairly strong success, won a seat. Meanwhile, in Idaho the collapse of the state Democratic Party allowed two Progressive candidates to defeat the Republican representatives, and in Wisconsin, Victor Berger won his seat back, and a third-party Progressive, Henry Graass, was also elected to an open seat.
Perhaps the greatest failure of the Democrats was their complete failure in New York, where the revitalized Socialist-Farmer-Labor fusion, and the aftermath of their disastrous performance in 1920, cost the Democratic Party the Governorship and the Senate seat, and several other state-wide offices that had vote splitting.
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