I just googled (yes, I know Google doesn't want me to verbify their name), "Lester Maddox," and got 6100 hits. I did it as "'Lester Maddox' Democrat" and got 640 (a reduction of almost ninety percent). The first ten on the page only have a single one from a major news source (the WaPo). Looking at the next ten, I see CNN and MSNBC, but the reference is "...Lester Maddox on Jimmy Carter. ... candidates prevented Callaway from receiving a majority, and the question was thrown to the Democrat-dominated legislature..." Well, OK, they do say that he won the Democratic nomination for governor, but it's buried pretty deep in the story.

Gosh, you'd think that the major media sources are almost, like, ashamed to admit that Mr. Axe Handle was a Democrat. But why?

Well, at least they didn't actually lie, and try to pawn him off as a Republican.

You know, come to think of it, because of Democratic demogoguery on race over the past couple decades ("Churches will burn, and men will be dragged behind cars, if the Republicans come to power!"), I'll bet a lot of young reporters who haven't studied history carefully actually believe that a lot of the old race baiters, like Maddox and Bull Connor, and George Wallace, were in fact Republicans.

re "googled": Curiousity got the better of me, and here's what a quick Google (TM) search revealed:

searched: 3,090,000
googled: 25,900
xeroxed: 40,800

I think you are correct -- Democrats and the media probably have persuaded many younger reporters (and younger voters) that our nation's sad legacy of segregationist bigots belongs to Republicans rather than to Democrats. I'm old enough to remember when that ancient history was part of current events and to me the Democratic Party will always reek of bigotry and segregationist abuse of minorities, with a touch of stench from Chicago-style big city machine political corruption. That doesn't mean that Republicans are squeaky-clean and free from error... except when compared with the Democrats. (Yes, I voted Libertarian in 2000.)

I just noted on my blog that the DNC put out a press release mourning the passing of Maynard Jackson, who was the first black mayor of Atlanta but not (so far) for Lester Maddox, who was governor of Georgia.

I wonder why...

I had an African-American officemate who was surprised when I told him that Abraham Lincoln was a Republican.