Kevin Alexander Gray just brought something to my attention, along with the following note:
Tom Turnipseed is mentioned in promo. Point of contention – It’s only because many outside the region don’t know Southern history that they place Atwater above Dent. Atwater was the 1st "master practicioner" of the modern Southern Strategy – Dent was the "architect."kg
The link is to a blog item about a film that debuted Sunday night at the L.A. Film Festival, entitled, "Boogie Man: The Lee Atwater Story."
It’s about the South Carolinian who, in the assertion of the writer, "did more than any political strategist of his generation to help the GOP gain a decades-long stranglehold on the South."
In case you wonder where the blogger is coming from on this, the headline on the post is, "The real Darth Vader of American politics."
I only met Atwater once. Lee Bandy and I dropped by his office to chat when he was chairman of the RNC. When we got back to the now-defunct Knight Ridder Washington bureau, Lee’s colleagues were all over him wanting to know what Atwater thought about this or that (something in the news that day). Nobody else in Washington had the access to Atwater that Bandy had, right up to the end.
I don’t remember much about meeting Atwater except that he was pretty much as I expected, and he kept a guitar in the corner of his office. I want to say it was a Stratocaster.
Related Posts
The Boogie Man is Pitchfork Ben Tillman. Still haunting these parts. His statue over there in Columbia is the conduit of Knotts’ evil power. Anybody who wants to keep that statue from being blown to smithereens had better shake a leg and put a 24/7 watch on it!
LEE WAS SOMETHING ELSE IN JUNIOR HIGH SCHOOL.AT A TALENT SHOW LEE AND FOUR GUYS MADE UP A BAND CALLED THE PAULBEARERS AND PLAYED WIPEOUT IN THE TALENT SHOW AND WON.LEE WAS CRAZY BUT A REAL GOOD GUY WHO KNEW HOW TO HAVE FUN AND A AMBITION IN LIFE..WE ALL MISS HIM.
Atwater? I live in Lexington County. Lee would ask me….how does Nikki keep getting elected in Lexington County. Y’all don’t have that many N_____ over there….
Lee was a master of what he did. Many imitated him but none could duplicate him.
Hitler was a master at what he did. Stalin was a master at what he did. It may be that the Evil One himself is a master at what he did. It doesn’t make it good, or right.
To find fault with Lee Atwater is to show that you are not actually aware of what Lee did for the state. He turned this state into a two party state. If you find fault with that, you are living in the dark ages when the king ruled.
Lee was a master at creating the partisan atmosphere we have today, the attack and gotcha politics that seems to run amok. He would be proud of the nonsense involving Barack Obama and a flag-pin and crap like that rather and looking at the real issues we are facing as a nation.
If Lee was so blinkin’ proud of what he did for this state, why did he ask forgiveness of those whose characters he assassinated (specifically Michael Dukakis) when he was dying?
No Slugger, it still isn’t a 2 party system. It’s a 1 party system with a different party. What Atwater did was create a system wherein rumor, innuendo, and just plain ol’ lies worked better than a good platform or well thought out positions.
It is an unfortunate thing of his passing, I do realize that he does have family and friends that do miss him. As far as his exploits politically, they will not be missed. Here’s a person that thrived on false rumors, divisiveness and definite partisianship. It’s unfortunate that a “party of the people” and one who are suppose to follow god & the bible would embrace this type of behavior willingly. He did not display any likable qualities that I could see. Hopefully the Republican party will practice what they preach and would really hate it if their base did not go to church and believe in the bible. What type of people who they really be?
This guy Lee Atwater has been credited by some for the terrible state this country is in, with the divisiveness that is out of control. Lee must have had some serious demons, I would tend to think some serious drug or alcohol problems, mental illness etc., that would lead him from being a man who could do a soulful rendition of People Get Ready that was actually good to being the demon whispering in the ears of powerful men ways to divide the country along racial lines. Just a guess, but I think he might have gotten enraged that he wasnt really Black, although he had a knack for soulful music. How else can you explain hanging one day with BB King and the next day whispering malicious rumors with powerful members of the elite?
I repeat that Lee was a master of what he did. Like him or dislike him.