Was Sheriff Andy Taylor a Democrat?

[elperromagico]

How about Deputy Fife? Mayor Pike? What about Mayor Stoner? Howard Sprague, perhaps? Nah - he's a Republican.

[Dogmudgeon]

1. Republicans -- but check the calendar

Liberals in the South -- right up to about 1970 -- were Republicans. The conservatives were Democrats, called "Dixiecrats". It was a holdover from the Civil War, because Lincoln was a Republican.

It was a strange turn of events, but that's how it went.

--bkl

[elperromagico]

2. Okay, but you've gotta admit Samantha Stephens was a Democrat.

The first Darrin was too. The second Darrin - a Nixon Republican.

[Dogmudgeon]

6. Yeah, but ...

... the Stephenses lived in a suburb of New York. That's Yankee territory! Even the second Darrin could have plausibly been a Democrat, out of force of habit if nothing else.

Now, the Pruitts of Southampton ... Republicans turned Democrats? What was the story there?

--bkl

[pagerbear]

8. What about Jeannie?

[BurtWorm]

9. Jeannie was a Deanie.

Or a Greenie.

[BurtWorm]

10. Interestingly, Elizabeth Montgomery was a died -in-the-wool

liberal Democrat. Ain't that a gas? :toast:

[elperromagico]

3. I know. The first Republican governor since Reconstruction here in AR

was Winthrop Rockefeller, who won (in '66 and '68) by being more of a liberal than his two opponents. He was pro-integration, anti-death penalty (commuted the sentences of everyone on Death Row shortly before leaving office), and sought to reform the dreadful conditions in Arkansas prisons. He wasn't defeated until the Democrats put forward a progressive candidate (Dale Bumpers). That was in 1970.

[David__77]

4. He had to have been.

Or else he couldn't have become sheriff. There's not two ways about it. I suspect though that Humphrey did not get his vote in '68.

[elperromagico]

5. Imagine how much less heartwarming that show would have been

if Sheriff Taylor had behaved like a real southern sheriff did in the 60s...

[demsrule4life]

7. Nothing like a blanket statement

[Waverley_Hills_Hiker]

11. For a more sinister Andy Griffth

...check out his portrayal of Lonesome Rhodes in "A Face In The Crowd".

[alwynsw]

12. How stereotypical!

Are you referring to the usually churchgoing, "do anything to help anyone" - and I do mean anyone, help out with Little League, etc. sheriff that was typical in the South during that period? You know - the WW II or Korea veteran that likely helped liberate a Nazi death camp or made that wonderful march from Inchon? Would that be the sheriff who, like most in our area, stood guard over the churches with primarily black memberships while foregoing attendance at his home church with his family because some jerk or group of jerks had made threats to tos a bomb into the church when it was packed?

You need to step back for a minute and rethink that notion. There were - and still are - plenty of bad apples. They are in the minority - and it's a very small minority - that gets the public into the public eye because of their misdeeds. File away those things you've seen from Hollywood and the sensationalism pushed by the 6:00 O'clock news. Those are mostly distortions and/or inaccurate reporting. The actions of a few are not representative of the whole.

Yup. He came along about 10 years after the fictional Andy Taylor, but Buford Pusser was anything but a small minded and bigoted man. Granted, he made national news and hollywood immortalized him for his actions, but his core beliefs of fairness and equality in enforcement of the law - not what you saw of him adapted on video - were exatly what most southern LEO's I knew and know are all about.

I've never been a LEO of any stripe. I have worked in corrections and as a result have had much truck with LEO's. Almost all I've dealt with have been upright, honest, and more free of bigotry than the average Joe. Nice blanket statement.

I'll be sure to remember it the next time I get hassled by the rare "northern" cop with a bias against southerners. Yup. I travel a great deal and I like to drive a little faster than I should. I get to meet more cops during my travels than most. When I next come across "that cop" who automatically figures I'm smuggling guns, moonshine, or cigarettes into (let's say for example because it's happened to me in that state) PA because I have KY plates on my car and have a serious KY twang and decides to toss my car (yes it's happened 3 times in the last 5 years), I'll remember that southern sheriffs are far worse.

Yep. I fit the stereotype - middle aged white male, retired professional, driving a Cadillac with his wife and dog in the car.
Get a clue. There are "bad cops" everywhere - and damn few of them. Please don't tar and feather the whole bunch because of a few bad apples.

[doc03]

13. Deputy Fife was a Republican

He always wanted to get that bullet out. Every time Fife was in charge he wanted to arrest half of Mayberry for J walking or illegal parking while someone was robbing the bank across the street. Andy always had to bail his incompetent ass out.