# Nixon-Agnew Southern Strategy Vaudeville Routine

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nixon-agnew-southern-strategy-vaudeville-routine/840577>\
**Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\
**Created:** [September 20, 2019, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nixon-agnew-southern-strategy-vaudeville-routine/840577 "2019-09-20T18:58:09Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 2\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Derleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)\
**Post date:** [September 20, 2019, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nixon-agnew-southern-strategy-vaudeville-routine/840577/1 "2019-09-20T18:58:09Z")

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[Because the real world doesn’t care about your feelings](https://www.nytimes.com/1982/03/10/us/gridiron-dinner-white-tie-and-jest.html):

> [@New York Times](#):
>
> In 1970, for example, President Nixon and Vice President Agnew did a piano duet built around their so-called ‘‘Southern Strategy.’’ No matter what song Mr. Nixon played, Mr. Agnew cut in with ‘‘Dixie.’’ The audience found it uproariously funny, as they did the spectacle of the Vice President clicking his heels, saluting and telling Mr. Nixon, ‘‘Yes suh, Mr. President, ah agree with you completely on yoah Southern strategy.’’

Quite amusing, how they laughed and japed about something which, to hear some tell it, never existed, never happened, and certainly was never a real thing outside of the minds of their political enemies.

Sadly, I doubt they took it on the road. Rarely would a double act have had such charisma.

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**Author:** ![Wesley\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wesley_clark/32/20581_2.png) [@Wesley\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wesley_Clark)\
**Post date:** [September 20, 2019, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nixon-agnew-southern-strategy-vaudeville-routine/840577/2 "2019-09-20T20:58:50Z")

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I would respect the south more if they were honest. Pretending racism isn’t what motivates them is infuriating. Southern whites as a whole (there are obviously exceptions) have spent the last 200 years voting for whatever political party hates democracy and lets them treat minorities like garbage. When democrats did it they were democrats, when republicans do it they are republicans.

And the civil war was about the right to own slavery, not states rights.
