University of Virginia Library

Southerners Will Fight

And Southern Democrats are
going to fight all attempts to take
away their greatest weapon in their
unending and bloody intra-party
House battles.

Republicans, on the other hand
— in the House as in the nation —
are actually more united. Their
ultra-conservative and liberal
wings-unlike the Democrats'-are
only rather small appendages to the
much larger and moderate body of
Republicans.

As a result, House Republicans
ride rather easily under their leadership.

For a few Republicans—leaders
or led—represent urban, intellectual
and/or labor constituencies with
predominately liberal interests; and
few Republicans—leaders or
led—represent, for example, the
antediluvian constituencies of the
Bible belt.

Republicans — young and old,
junior and senior, leader and led —
tend to be suburban and rural,
middle class and more moderate
than anything else.

Which is why, for example, men
like John Byrnes and William
Springer have little to fear from any
tampering with the seniority
system. They are not at all as
obnoxious to any of their fellow
party and committee members as,
for example, Memdel Rivers or
H.R. Peage are to some of theirs.

Democrats lean heavily to a reform
whereby the caucus (all House
Democrats) selects chairmen.

For urban Democrats often
chafe at some committee's regional
bias (westerners and Southerners,
for example, predominate on
Interior and Agriculture), whereas
Republicans have few urban or
other liberal members to make such
a complaint.

House Democrats therefore
want to integrate their far-flung
"coalition" by caucus control.

Republicans, of course, have
such integration already.