>>Indeed.
>>
>>I was a poll-watcher for the dems in Nashville (grad school). The dem machine sent in the drunks with a slip of paper that had two names on it: Nixon and Gore (senior). I knew by 2 pm that the election was going to Nixon, as the Southern base had defected. Not that integration and race had anything to do with it, mind you. <sigh>
>>
>Wow.. Hank.. you were present at a key turning point in US Politics. Maybe one the most important since the civil war.
>Some people that the shift also had an economic motive as one-time Northeast abolitionist repubs moved south to escape northern unions south and exploit the poor white labor market and mask it by fueling racial hatreds.
>
>This man was a silent mover behind the scenes and made billions at it.
>https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roger_Milliken

Hmm... When I was a kid, there were one or two textile mills left in Chicopee, MA, where I grew up. The Chicopee River powered the plants back in the day.

The plants closed, of course, as they were moved to the South. I benefited from this: a chemist at the plant, "Doc" Simon, retired, because he had always wanted to be a teacher. He chose to teach at our high school, even though he lived in a tonier suburb of the bigger city (Springfield) next door. He was, as the name implied, a PhD chemist with 30+ years experience, and a fantastic teacher. I believe he was the only PhD in the school system. So I was around for that, also.

Which probably goes to show that if you live long enough, you'll have been around for what people now call history. :)