Board Thread:General Discussion/@comment-10975360-20140421002559/@comment-32656-20140428105711

The majority of those opposed to him were from the north, not the south. Of those who advocated Truman to the convention - the name they advocate is more or less irrelevant here - only one of them was from the South. Another from the middle states. Rest mostly from New York. They represented the major factions and centers of power for the party, and would hold he same positions under the Progressives.

And you're wrong about the Progressives being "shut out" from the south. The policies that they would be advocating had nothing to do with the Republicans, and later the Dems, getting shut out there otl. It had everything do with the Repubs freeing their slaves, and then the Dems giving the rights. The Progressives would not be guilty of anything like that until they did the rights around when they happened otl.

He had come out as a Republican otl several years before, in 1947. Just wasn't anywhere near well-known. Had absolutely nothing to do with Truman, and would have less to do with Wallace atl. And, Ike is from the moderate, internationalist, wing of the otl Republicans - or, more accurately, the same group that supported the Progressives otl, and by your own admission a large part of that party. He'd have been a member of the Progressives.

Again, you exaggerate the Dems in the south. The Progressives would not be viewed like the Republicans otl. More power and influence. South is not anywhere near as monolithic as you think.

Johnson had many positions that were not like the rest of the southern Dems, and Texas is always a bit different than the rest of the area. It's the southern state that would have had the largest number of Progressives. It is very likely that he would have been in that party. Kefauver too, actually.

"Dominating" is extremely different from "controlling" or it being a one-party area.

Again, Ike would be Progressive. Nixon a Democrat. California was Republican until more recently than you think - would have been a swing state for a long time atl.

Reagan was not even governor by 1968. He would not run for the presidency without it - would lose in a landslide. At absolute earliest, 1972. More likely 1976.