I don't get it--why do some people think Southerners will ONLY vote for other Southerners?

[Bicoastal]

I didn't see them turning up in droves to vote for Al Gore in 2000 or Vice Presidential candidates Lloyd Bentsen in 1998 or John Edwards in 2004.

Yet it keeps getting repeated like Gospel, here and elsewhere--Southern people only vote for Southerners. If I was from that part of the country, I'd be insulted.

[Xipe Totec]

1. I Don't know; Dubya is from Connecticut nt

[liberalmuse]

2. It's a Republican-created meme that needs to be shattered.

And hopefully it will be this coming November.

[Chloroplast]

3. I'm Southern born and raised and find the comments ignorant.

Regional pride isn't enough to get votes.

[blondeatlast]

4. Simple minds are easily led, especially when they get their thoughts e-mailed to them daily. nt

[theoldman]

5. Southern Republicans ONLY vote for other Southerners.

Unfortunately Southern Democrats are not that loyal. Remember that many of them voted for Reagan.

[finecraft]

13. Not necessarily. Living in Louisiana I find

a great majority of registered Louisiana Democrats only vote for the Republican. They could be from Mars, but if they have the (R) next to their name, they'll vote for them. Welcome to my world. :crazy:

[sharesunited]

6. Because Yankees talk funny.

[a la izquierda]

15. You have no idea how many people from Oklahoma

told me that when I moved there.

[WeDidIt]

7. Looks to me like there will be precisely ZERO Southerners on either ticket

No Southern names really being floated as McNopoly's Veep.

[sharesunited]

16. Dick Morris advises McCain to choose Kay Bailey Hutchison.

Because he wants to suck her toes.

[RTBerry]

8. Probably the southern (AKA rebel, AKA confederate) pride thing. n/t

[blm]

9. I think the fascist media made it a point to promote the idea that Dems HAD to be more conservative

to win. That way they could get their cooperative, pro-business Dems like Clinton into office more easily. And set the myths about election more firmly into the Dem mindset.

Kerry was the most progressive nominee Dems ever had, and he garnered far more votes than Clinton who ran as a conservative Dem. Gore received far more votes than Clinton did when he switched to a more populist campaign. BushInc had to steal it from him. And Kerry pulled in at least 10 million more votes than Gore.

If this country had a secure election process, the southern strategy would've been proven a fallacy by now.

[samplegirl]

10. The civil war has never been over

them.

[butterfly77]

11. I have been saying that for years...

I just know that they couldn't be that closed minded I am quite sure that they aren't foolish enough to think that they are any different than people in the north. Why do we in so called "up north" look at people for who they are and not because of the region they live in or some other stupid ideas...

[trayfoot]

12. If I was from that part of the country, I'd be insulted.

I AM....and I AM!!!!!! Southerners are NOT all neanderthals! Some of us are even well-educated and metropolitan! I think what is meant by a "Southern Strategy" is not so much about the candidates, but about WHERE the candidates campaign and that they NOT ignore the south!

[izquierdista]

17. Islands in a sea of ignorance

Finding well-educated, thinking people in the South is like finding dry land southeast of Florida. Yes, there are sand bars and coral reefs sticking above the water, and there are even some hotels and resorts built on those sand bars -- but by and large, it's water, water everywhere and not a drop to drink. Athens, Georgia is a particularly nice island of learning in an otherwise dumb and dull place, but the multitude of morons in Cobb county persist with the regressive Republican memes and drown out the learning of Clarke county.

I'm firmly convinced that if Lincoln didn't keep the Union together, today there would be one civilized, advanced nation on a par with Norway or Ireland in human development, and another backwards country, struggling to keep up with the average of the third world. Actually, if you pay any attention to John Edwards, that is what we have now, there are just no lines on the map dividing them from each other.

It's true that education is the only way out of the problem, but the adulation of ignorance is so strong and deep in the South that it will take generations to break through. One school at a time, one student at a time, critical thinking needs to be nurtured instead of condemned.

[salonghorn70]

14. The Problem With 1988 and 2004

Is that the Presedential candidates had no appeal in the South.

[kwenu]

18. It's code for they want a "good ole boy." A white protestant conservative male.

It's not always the case though but typically that's what will win among whites in the south.