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By LEWIS F. FICKETT JR.
Rappahannock News Special Writer
The lack of party registration in Virginia is a relic of the old oneparty “Solid South."
At a time long ago when the overwhelming majority of Virginia voters considered themselves Democrats, there was really no need for registration by party affiliation. All ’ meaningful political candidates were " -chosen from the dominant Demo.cratic Party, and were then anr mointed by the powerful political ' boss, of Virginia, Senator Harry F. ; Byrd.
The then existing Republican ’Party was a weak force, concentrated largely in the Valley, which 1 ^surfaced primarily during presidential elections.
All of this began to change writh the election of President Dwight Eisenhower in 1952. Eisenhower carried Virginia, as had President ■ Herbert Hoover in 1928 when Vir•ginians - in a burst of anti-Catholicism - reluctantly supported a Republican rather than the Catholic A1 Smith. The 1928 Election was, however, a fluke. Eisenhower, on the other hand, made voting Republican respectable.
Unfortunately, in 1952, the Virginia political picture began to blur. On the state level, the still dominant Byrd political machine retained Democratic control of the governorship and the state legislature. The result was that many Virginians became schizophrenic in their voting habits. They continued, with one inr
81.3%