[optormtix]

Do you have any suggested reading or source for this?

I really don't know of any book that advocates my position and I guess I've come to it through many readings. I'm not a professional historian or political scientist so I could be wrong.

I do think the theory makes sense though. After all, Strom Thurmond and Jesse Helms were dixicrats who bolted the dems to become republicans and were massively popular and influential in the south all their lives. I'm also pretty sure that the only dem to do really well in the bible belt after the civil rights legislation was Jimmy Carter. Nixon did better than his opponents in the south, and since '80 it has been the republicans' most solid bloc.