Astonishing Fact: FDR Got 98% Of The Vote In South Carolina in 1932!

Last Sunday's NYT Book Review included this: "In 1932, when Thurmond won his first election to the South Carolina Senate, Franklin Roosevelt carried the state with 98 percent of the vote."  See David Oshinsky's review of "Strom Thurmond's America."

That fact is an astonishing reminder of a time and a place where African Americans, who were loyal supporters of the Republican Party, the party of Lincoln, were disenfranchised systematically and ruthlessly.  It is a reminder of how politics changes, how the right to vote must not be taken for granted, and why everyone should register and vote for their chosen candidate.

When a democracy is healthy, nobody gets 98% of the vote!