“All the Democrats who voted for him [Clarence Thomas] were from the South, the opposite of what had happened in 1967, when Southern Democratic senators opposed [Thurgood] Marshall. By 1991, blacks had become a core constituency of Southern senators, and Democrats feared alienating them with a vote against Thomas.” Democratic PartyUs Politics19671991Clarence Thomas Book:Breaking In: The Rise of Sonia Sotomayor and the Politics of Justice Source: Breaking In: The Rise of Sonia Sotomayor and the Politics of Justice