“The Republicans came up with a strategy to draw in as many of the southern Dixiecrat voters as possible into the now-conservative Republican Party, by using their anti-Civil Rights policies and "state's rights" rhetoric, called the Southern Strategy, which ended up successfully absorbing the Dixiecrat Party into the Republican base (which is also why the KKK and white supremacist groups today overwhelmingly support and endorse the Republican Party). This was the fundamental "party switch" until it was finally cemented by the neoliberal conservative Reagan administration, which began the modern duopoly we have today.”

One example that supports the Southern Strategy's impact on the party switch can be seen in the political career of Strom Thurmond. Thurmond, a former Dixiecrat who ran as a third party candidate in the 1948 presidential election, eventually joined the Republican Party in 1964. His switch was mainly attributed to his opposition to the Civil Rights Act, which was signed into law by Democratic President Lyndon B. Johnson. Thurmond's shift from the Democratic Party to the Republican Party is a clear example of the realignment that took place during the Southern Strategy era.

Furthermore…  Read more, when the Civil Rights Act was signed into law, it led to a significant change in voting patterns of the South. Prior to the Act, the South had been a Democratic stronghold, but following its passage, the region began to vote increasingly Republican. This shift was most evident in the 1968 presidential election when Republican candidate Richard Nixon won several southern states, using his "law and order" rhetoric to appeal to those who opposed the civil rights movement. This was a key component of his Southern Strategy, which aimed to capitalize on the racial tensions and resentments that were prevalent at the time.