Skowronek obviously views opposition/affiliation as both a policy construct and a party construct, with the emphasis on policy.
Cleveland was a Goldbug (pro-gold, pro-bank, pro-industry) in a Silverite party. It explains why he was elected in the first place (he was the only Dem elected after the Civil War until TR's third-party campaign split the GOP in 1912) and why the Dems repudiated him at the height of the Populist movement. McKinley was a Goldbug's Goldbug.
Tyler ran on the Democrat ticket in 1840 because he loathed the Jacksonian nationalism of Old Hickory and his close friend Martin Van Buren. (Yes, my students always seem puzzled by that -- it's like a fiscally conservative Republican voting for a Democrat because they don't like George H. W. Bush's tax increases.) Polk, BTW, was known as "Young Hickory" b/c he was both Jackson's personal secretary and his protege. Tyler is a VP candidate b/c the Whigs are hoping to attract Southern votes with him while he's hoping to hurt the Jackson wing of the Democratic Party.
As for Grant: Andrew Johnson was a nationalist opposed to states' rights. While he wasn't a Republican, he was committed to the Union. Grant, while a Republican, wasn't a Radical Republican intent on punishing the South during Reconstruction.
The reelections of Clinton and George W. Bush also seem to support Skowronek's thesis: both were elected in opposition, both were reelected.
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Date: 2007-03-23 09:17 pm (UTC)Cleveland was a Goldbug (pro-gold, pro-bank, pro-industry) in a Silverite party. It explains why he was elected in the first place (he was the only Dem elected after the Civil War until TR's third-party campaign split the GOP in 1912) and why the Dems repudiated him at the height of the Populist movement. McKinley was a Goldbug's Goldbug.
Tyler ran on the Democrat ticket in 1840 because he loathed the Jacksonian nationalism of Old Hickory and his close friend Martin Van Buren. (Yes, my students always seem puzzled by that -- it's like a fiscally conservative Republican voting for a Democrat because they don't like George H. W. Bush's tax increases.) Polk, BTW, was known as "Young Hickory" b/c he was both Jackson's personal secretary and his protege. Tyler is a VP candidate b/c the Whigs are hoping to attract Southern votes with him while he's hoping to hurt the Jackson wing of the Democratic Party.
As for Grant: Andrew Johnson was a nationalist opposed to states' rights. While he wasn't a Republican, he was committed to the Union. Grant, while a Republican, wasn't a Radical Republican intent on punishing the South during Reconstruction.
The reelections of Clinton and George W. Bush also seem to support Skowronek's thesis: both were elected in opposition, both were reelected.