The Augusta Courier

Senator Talmadge Tells South Carolina Rally Southerners Tired Of Insults

Whether the Southern Democrats stay in the Democratic Party is up to the national convention of 1960.

And thus spoke Senator Herman Talmadge of Georgia in delivering the principal address at the South Carolina Democratic Party dinner and rally, held in Columbia, South Carolina, on November 20, 1959.

"The convention can take one of two courses - it can keep the South in the Party and win or it can drive the South from the Party and assure another Republican victory," he said.

And he further said:

"The Democrats of the South are sick and tired of being rewarded for their consistent support of the Party by being cast in the role of Party whipping boy."

Calculated Insult

Then Talmadge said that the South would not voluntarily leave the Democratic Party but would only leave in case the candidates nominated, and the platform approved, are obnoxious and a calculated insult to "our states and our people."

And in this connection, Talmadge said:

The Democratic Party cannot win in 1960 without the South.

The Democratic Party cannot win in 1960 without the South because it will have to have every electoral vote the South can give it to offset the electoral votes of the two most populous states from which the Republican Party likely will draw its candidates.

The Democratic Party cannot win in 1960 without the South because, if the Democratic Convention drives the South from the Party, there will not be just two, three or four states which will leave -the entire South will go.

Therefore, to those who sit in seats of responsibility in Democratic National Headquarters in Washington, let me make these points clear beyond misunderstanding:

Southern Democrats will go to the Democratic Convention to stay in the Party.

Southern Democrats will meet their brethren from other regions halfway in any honest effort to resolve the areas of disagreement between us and to present a united front before the nation.

Southern Democrats will give their support to any candidates nominated and to any platform approved which are not obnoxious or a calculated insult to our states and our people.

Whether Southern Democrats stay in the Party is up to the Convention.

Assure GOP Victory

The Convention can take one of two courses-it can keep the South in the Party and win or it can drive the South from the Party and assure another Republican victory.

Southern Democrats fervently hope for the former but they will not be unprepared for the latter.

The Democrats of the South are sick and tired of being rewarded for their consistent support of the Party by being cast in the role of Party whipping boy.

The Democrats of the South are fed up with being tied to the national stake every four years by fellow Democrats to be ridiculed, castigated and punished as the price for the support of those whose stock in trade is racial demagogy, agitation and exploitation.

Learned The Hard Way

The Democrats of the South have learned the hard lesson of not allowing themselves to be taken for granted and are determined that in the future they shall be as vigorous and as vociferous in seeking their due recognition as are the NAACP, the ADA and the other organized pressure groups which are bent upon turning the Democratic Party into their own private shooting preserve.

If we Southern Democrats have anything for which to blame ourselves, it is that we have too long allowed extremists within and without the Party to distort and discredit our motives and to misinterpret and malign our sincere efforts to solve our problems.

We have allowed ourselves to be labeled by the self-serving propaganda of radical political elements.

We have allowed our insistence upon adherence to the Democratic principle of local self-government to be characterized falsely as reaction and inhumanity.

In short, we have allowed ourselves to be placed on the defensive.

It is time that we put the shoe on the other foot.

Sincerity and Integrity

We of the South do not have to yield to anyone in the sincerity and intensity of our dedication to the Democratic precepts of justice, decency and fair play for all.

We need make apologies to no one for what we profess or practice.

To be sure we have our problems and our shortcomings, but we are trying to do something about them.

We make no pretense at being perfect.

Neither do we presume to sit in judgment on the imperfections of others.

And we do not consider it unreasonable to expect that Democrats of other regions-whose imperfections are no less pronounced than ours-should accord us the same tolerance.

The greatest need of the Democratic Party is a recognition of the fundamental fact that in a nation as large and diverse as ours there can be no single or pat solution to problems involving human relations.

Such problems are so varied and complex that they can be satisfactorily and amicably resolved only by the individuals who are confronted with them.