Tea party didn’t invent ‘primarying’ of heretics

“The Southern bloc in Congress drew up a ‘Declaration of Constitutional Principles’ (otherwise known as the Southern Manifesto) voicing opposition to Brown [vs. Board of Education]….

“Two of the North Carolina congressmen who declined to sign the manifesto, Charles Deane and Thurmond Chatham, were defeated in the Democratic primary in May 1956…. The state’s third nonsigner, Harold Cooley, survived by campaigning against the court decision….

“The defeat of Deane and Chatham drew headlines across the country….The lessons were clear enough. Question segregation, and you would be severely punished by the voters.”

— From “The Paradox of Tar Heel Politics” by Rob Christensen (2008)