I grew up in the 1950’s, under who I think was the best president in my lifetime. Dwight Eisenhower. He was what folks today classify as a centrist, maybe a moderate, probably both a liberal in some things and a conservative in others. I tend to be much of the same mind IKE was back then. I find it fascinating that the more that comes out about IKE, all he did behind the scene, the higher he has risen among Historians ranking of the presidents. From 21st in 1962 up to 5th today. No one knew what political party IKE belonged to until 1952 when he decided to run as a Republican.
What a conservative or a liberal is or were has changed over time. A conservative during IKE certainly isn’t one today. The same for a liberal. There really wasn’t much of an ideology difference between the two parties back then. Each had their liberal and conservative wings. The Democrats the solid conservative south, the Republicans, their old Rockefeller liberal Northeast. It would be hard for the younger generations to believe that the Northeast once was basically solid Republican while the south, solid Democratic. It’s true though.
I think swing voter is the best way to describe me. I never supported either major party, always picking and choosing depending on who the candidates were and the situation at the time. As an old foggie, I don’t understand the politics of today. For most of my life, there wasn’t such a thing as a straight party line vote, there was always compromise and the game of give and take being played. Here’s a good article by Chris Matthews and the way it used to be.
Reagan and O’Neil, a political friendship worth remembering.
https://www.ajc.com/news/opinion/re...-worth-recalling/sjbyaGCQcropVcAwYk0GBI/
