Before I speak, I want to put it out there that I am not a Republican, Bush pretty much ruined it for me. But I am a Conservative, with a Libertarian streak in me to make things interesting... The idea that the Repubs of the 1860's are like the Demoncats of today is an easy assertion on the surface, however you have to dig deeper into the issue to get the truth. The Democratic party has evolved over the years into the most corrupt political organization in the world, with only the Republicrats to follow, and second only because they do not hold the White House. They are truly more evil than their predecessor because of the virus of radical communism that infected them in the 1960's in the way of Bill Ayers and clowns like that. They have completely hijacked the party, taking total advantage of the racial unrest of the period (the civil rights movement) to establish new planks for the party and to fortify their base with an evolving agenda of government handouts to keep the lower class in their place, on public assistance and dependent on the government for survival. Then, they (smartly) dictated the dialogue over time, demonizing the Republicrats and making everyone think that they hate poor people, and that only the demoncats have the best interests of the poor and middle class in mind. They really WANT the maximum amount of people possible on public assistance because it expands their base, BENEFITING THE DEMOCRATIC PARTY. If they really wanted to help the downtrodden, they would invest all the money they spend on handouts into job training, i.e. trade schools, to get all these poor folks out of the bread line and into decent jobs. There are a hundred things they could do with that money spent on handouts that would help all these folks, and, in turn help all of us as a nation. Just remember, the weaker the middle and lower class the worse off all of us are!