To Southern State DUers - can the Dems win down there?

[RiverStone]

Just curious if you think the worm has turned in the South?

I grew up in Georgia and know the NASCAR dad bible belt conservatism well - that was one thing that drove me to head out to liberal Oregon after college. In a lot of ways, Georgia seemed to grow even more conservative after the Jimmy Carter era (minus Hotlanta - the big city remains diverse).

I miss the food, fireflies, hospitality, and thunderstorms --- but do not miss the sway the church has over the culture down there. I would think Hillary has the toughest road, as sexism remains a staple in areas outside the big cities. I'm really surprised Edwards is not doing better (though maybe he will as 08 draws closer) - the same goes for Obama. I think among the ignorant, sexism will even trump racism when it comes to a Jerry Falwell fan voting for a Dem. They won't.

Do you see any hope of a southern Dem resurgence in 08?

p.s. Send me some grits! :)

[OKDem08]

1. Generally speaking...

yes, I do believe it is possible as there is a definite anti-incumbent attitude; however, if Hillary is the dem nominee, prob not in that regard because of the reasons you cited.

[napi21]

2. I live about 1/2 hr. north of Atlanta, and IMO NO Dem has a chance of winning Ga.

I HATE to have to say that, but all my neighbors, store clerks, people my hubby works with, ALL still LOVE Shrub! It's getting harder and harder for me to get my hubby to even bother to vote, because after every election, he says "NONE of the people we voted for won...AGAIN!" I will always vote, and will always vote Dem, but other than Atlanta and Athens, I sure haven't seen ANY hint of change.

The one thing I am hoping for is that Rudy is the Pub candidate, because that will cause LOTS of fundie Georgians to stay home!

[Coexist]

4. maybe the severe water shortage will make them think about the

environment a little.

Maybe not.

Florida can turn blue.

[book_worm]

10. I've heard that Georgia is one of the least positive for dems in '08

[RiverStone]

14. ALL still LOVE Shrub???

Yikes - still!?

I may not have walked down Peachtree St. for years, but your telling me Shrub's still loved down there by ALL (or most anyway)? How do his supporters rationalize that he is a total fuck up? Do they ever think for themselves - read any reliable news source...?

Even among younger voters...hard to imagine Shrub still holds sway. Maybe it's something in the water - that is, if there IS good water anymore (sad stuff on the water BTW).

How can/could they still LOVE a man that so may of us can't stand? :shrug:

[napi21]

17. Well, he IS a reborn Christian who hates abortion and gays ya know.

AND he listens to the Higher Father. All those things are #1 on the list of Ga. voters!

[Name removed]

30. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Warren DeMontague]

41. How the fuck does Michael Stipe stand it down there?

:shrug:

[napi21]

46. I suspect he NEVER ventures north! n/t

[jpljr77]

50. Athens has an insulating effect.

Very liberal town.

The most unusual thing in the world to witness is the difference in Athens between a Thursday in the Fall and the very next Saturday. Night and day. I lived it for 4 years and it never ceased to amaze me. There is a literal and figurative sea of red that rolls into town on Saturdays in the Fall, and it's scary.

Of course, even with all that said: Go Dawgs!

[Jonesie]

28. Cynthia McKinney-lanta?

I've voted for a dem twice (Phil Bredeson, TN) and don't regret my decision one bit, but if he were anywhere else in the country besides the South, his positions would force him in to the Republican Party. No, Hillary can't win here, and it's not because of sexism. As you know, down here we admire accomplishments, of which she has none. Not one bill worth mentioning or one case worth bragging about.
The other guy was right about Rudy, though. I bashed Bill pretty hard about getting Lewinskied in the Oval, so I can't force myself to vote for Rudy or Newt for that matter. Both have failed to display themselves as proper gentlemen to their wives and should be ashamed. The rest of the country may think of me as a sexist, racist, uneducated mouth-breather but I'll be damned if I'll let them think of me as a hypocrite.

[AndyTiedye]

21. And Every Single Vote in Georgia is Counted by Diebold Repiglickin Electing Machines

[conscious evolution]

45. We have a winner!!!!

Georgia would be blue if there were honest voting machines here.
People forget we were a mostly blue state until diebold came here.

[RebelOne]

22. I live just northwest of Atlanta in Woodstock.

And there is no chance of a Dem winning any office here in red Cherokee County.

[harun]

69. Do you think if Rudy is the Pub candidate and they are not

motivated to even vote, that their hate for Hillary might overcome that and still get them to the polls (in your area)?

[seabeyond]

3. dems cannot even run in the panhandle of texas. they have to be repug or

independent or the preferred, libertarian

[WilliamPitt]

5. Depends on the candidate

and on generating serious Black voter turnout.

But probably no, not yet.

[book_worm]

11. How do you think a New Yorker with some liberal views like Rudy would do in the south?

against a NY with some liberal views but who lived in the South for many years--Hillary?

[WilliamPitt]

24. Gonna be interesting

"Rudolph W. Giuliani, who was the last candidate to R.S.V.P. for the event, will be addressing the group just a few weeks after James C. Dobson, the founder of Focus on the Family, and other influential conservative Christian leaders said they would probably bolt the Republican Party and support a third-party candidate if Mr. Giuliani was the nominee, because of his support for abortion rights."

http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2007/10/15/vying-for-values-voters/

If the fundies actually do blow their own balls off by running a third party candidate should Rudy get nominated...well...picture Hillary (or whomever is nominated by the Dems) winning Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana...

How?

An anti-choice third-party piss-off candidate will split the GOP base vote right down the middle. Immediate numerical advantage for the Democrats, especially if they are able to inspire significant Black voter turnout.

I was wrong above; hadn't factored in the fetus people.

This may be a lot of fun. :)

[aikoaiko]

44. Not only that, but gun guys in the south hate Giuliani even more than Hillary.

I just don't see how Giuliani can get the nomination, but the polls are going his way.

[SaveAmerica]

54. A strategy based on a phantom candidate is not a good plan

[MADem]

6. Well, fifty state strategies notwithstanding, I don't think anyone's "counting on" the South.

They'll be the oddfellows out in 08, if they don't do a reality check and move to the blue...

[OzarkDem]

26. Dem leaders and elected officials in the South

need to do some traveling around and talking to people down there, even if its outside of their state.

Johnson and Kennedy used this strategy pretty well when going through all the problems w/ desegregation during their administration.

Dem elected officials from the red states (governors, Congress critters, etc.) should be going out on the stump as Dem Party surrogates to ultra red strongholds and talk up the Dem party. GOP does it all the time.

Its not rocket science, they just need to get it done. We don't need to adopt a right wing agenda in the party to lure these folks, just use a little savvy and salesmanship from Dems already down there.

[MADem]

36. Well, Johnson wasn't called the Master of the Senate for nothing.

He and Dick Russell had a long history, and he gamed the whole integration issue so well that he had a lot of crackers completely sold that he'd maintain the racial status quo when he landed on the Kennedy ticket.

He later acknowledged that his Great Society and civil rights stuff would have the effect of screwing the Democratic Party out of winning the south for at least a generation. He was right, only it was more than a generation!

It would be great to pick up a few southern plums, and like Dean says, we SHOULD try, but we shouldn't count those chickens before they're hatched, at all.

The south IS changing though, it really is--just not fast enough to suit me!!! On a day to day basis, it's not the south I spent a few years in during my youth (that was a scary, segregated place). We still have a ways to go, not just regionally, but nationally, and we can't do any laurel-resting even if we do get lucky and pick up a few key states.

[RiverStone]

37. I appreciate your optimism!

It is all too easy to write of the South; though from this thread and others it seems Virginia, Florida, and maybe Tennessee actually have a 50/50 possibility of going Blue in 08.

I'd have a lot more confidence in that if Edwards or Obama was at the top of the ticket (of course, I'd love it to be Kucinich). I think Hillary....no, I KNOW Hillary will not attract many NASCAR dads; though I know Rudy will not attract many bible belters either with his position on Choice and he's a Yankee just like Hillary. So that may be wash.

I think many don't want to try and win and simply write it off as lost; Kerry did that early in 04.

If more folks thought like you OzarkDem, maybe the south could rise again, in a big and BLUE way!




peace~:)

[IndianaJones]

7. not needed. nt.

[Virginia Dare]

32. We need the Senatorial and House races...

and if the coattails are long, that's a good thing.

[IndianaJones]

33. I would like to have them, but with a Democratic President, it is not necessary. nt.

[sandnsea]

8. We aren't laying the groundwork

We're taking the same message down there so I don't see why we would expect the vote to change.

[Mayberry Machiavelli]

9. I guess the real question is, are there any individual states, like VA, NC etc. where a Democratic

Pres. Candidate could win? Peeling off even ONE of those "solid South states" would be huge, IMHO.

[Warpy]

12. I think there is a chance in a few states

Florida, Va, NC, Tenn. and La. among them. It's only a chance, though, and depends entirely on who the nominee from both parties might be.

I'm afraid the rest of Dixie is a lost cause. Like you said, the church dictates who people vote for. If Dobson makes good his threat and starts a bible banger party, we might see the GOP vote split in the south, but that's a long shot and will likely not happen until after the next election.

[mnhtnbb]

13. Georgia is a lost cause, IMO, but NC, VA, TN, AR, maybe even KY

and West VA ought to be in play.

I live in NC.

[ShaneGR]

15. In the South? Clinton no. Obama no. Edwards yes.

Simple as that.

[WilliamPitt]

25. See post 24.

Nothing simple about it...which is great. :)

[jpljr77]

47. So what happened in 2004?

If I recall, Edwards was on the ticket, and NC voted the other way.

Edwards is as unelectable in the South as Kucinich, in my opinion.

[skipos]

61. Edwards got the usual 4%-5% boost that VPs get from their homestate

It is a pretty red state, +14% Repub in Pres elections if I remember correctly.

[SaveAmerica]

53. I agree with you, I don't want anything that resembles AT ALL a close

election this time, and I believe Hillary as the candidate will bring out the haters to vote against her. We cannot forget these idiot Republicans thrive on hate, it's how they keep getting them to the polls. I personally witnessed an election that could have been won but wasn't because a sleepy nest of southern Republican hornets was given enough of a hit with a hate stick to bring them to the polls.

To others who don't understand this: if you don't have a strategic plan on your mind, you have lost the lessons of the past 7 years.

[Lex]

16. In NC, we have a Dem governor and Dem controlled legislature

and Edwards was our Dem Senator for a time.

But the rhetoric for the Prez elections seems too much for the sheeple to overcome for some reason.

[book_worm]

19. Do you think Edwards at the top of the ticket in NC would do the trick

as a VP candidate to Kerry he didn't seem to help too much in the south.

[aikoaiko]

18. Yes, especially if you stay away from gun control.

We don't have to promise an Uzi for every home, but as long as we stop proposing and supporting more gun control, there is hope.

[TornadoTN]

23. That issue alone would swing Tennessee blue

People can try to cut it any way that they want, but Gun Control is the single biggest issue that Tennesseans turn out to the polls to make their voice heard. We are so close to going blue, with a good Democratic governor and solid Democrats all around the state. The past Senatorial election was very close and honesty we would have had it if Ford hadn't remained largely silent on gun control issues (among other things, but I'll save that for another time).

East of Nashville, gun control is key - if you can sway 25% of that vote our way, we break blue by a comfortable margin.

[derby378]

57. And some TN Dem legislators are taking cues from Amendment II Democrats

Some of our key concepts as espoused on our website (http://www.a2dems.net) are even showing up in editorials written by state legislators for newspapers in the state.

[TornadoTN]

66. Thanks for the link! Very informative

That's the kind of group that would make waves east of Nashville. The party thinks it can't win by throwing money this way, but I'd wager they'd be very surprised if they just tried it once!

[AndyTiedye]

49. Dems Haven't Breathed a Word In Favor of Gun Control in a Decade, It Makes No Difference

The NRA will still go all-out to defeat Hillary Clinton if she is nominated. They will say it is because of she said something in favor of gun control 20 years ago or whatever.
They will do the same for anyone else we nominate.

The Ghoul will make anti-gun-control noises and the NRA will give him a pass.

The NRA mobilizes the gun owners, but they are the lobby of the gun manufactuers.

The NRA will always support the Repiglickins because they are the war party, and guns for war are a much bigger market than guns for "sport" or self-defense.

[aikoaiko]

52. "Dems Haven't Breathed a Word in Favor of Gun Control in a Decade" is untrue --

There's this pile of pooh from a few months ago.

H.R. 1022: Assault Weapons Ban and Law Enforcement Protection Act of 2007

To reauthorize the assault weapons ban, and for other purposes.
From Congresspedia:
The Assault Weapons Ban and Law Enforcement Protection Act of 2007 (H.R.1022) is a gun control bill introduced in the House on February 13, 2007 by Rep. Carolyn McCarthy (D-N.Y.). The bill was referred to the House Committee on the Judiciary, and then to the Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, and Homeland Security on March 19, 2007. While there were no cosponsors originally, the bill gained 34 co-sponsors by March 22, 2007. An additional seven cosponsors signed on after the April 16, 2007 Virginia Tech Massacre.Thomas list of bill cosponsors ...

Sponsor:
Rep. Carolyn McCarthy
Cosponsors
Rep. Neil Abercrombie
Rep. Gary Ackerman
Rep. Howard Berman
Rep. Earl Blumenauer
Rep. Lois Capps
Rep. Yvette Clarke
Rep. William Clay
Rep. Joseph Crowley
Rep. Diana DeGette
Rep. William Delahunt
Rep. Rahm Emanuel
Rep. Anna Eshoo
Rep. Sam Farr
Rep. Chaka Fattah
Rep. Bob Filner
Rep. Barney Frank
Rep. Raul Grijalva
Rep. Jane Harman
Rep. Mazie Hirono
Rep. Rush Holt
Rep. Michael Honda
Rep. Sheila Jackson-Lee
Rep. Patrick Kennedy
Rep. James Langevin
Rep. Zoe Lofgren
Rep. Nita Lowey
Rep. Carolyn Maloney
Rep. Edward Markey
Rep. James McGovern
Rep. Martin Meehan
Rep. Bradley Miller
Rep. James Moran
Rep. Jerrold Nadler
Del. Eleanor Norton
Rep. John Olver
Rep. William Pascrell
Rep. Edward Pastor
Rep. Steven Rothman
Rep. Janice Schakowsky
Rep. Adam Schiff
Rep. Brad Sherman
Rep. Albio Sires
Rep. Louise Slaughter
Rep. Hilda Solis
Rep. Ellen Tauscher
Rep. Christopher Van Hollen
Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz
Rep. Diane Watson
Rep. Melvin Watt
Rep. Henry Waxman
Rep. Robert Wexler
Rep. Lynn Woolsey

and then there's this pile of pooh from a couple of years ago (there's more but that's what I could find easily).

U.S. Senate Roll Call Votes 108th Congress - 2nd Session

as compiled through Senate LIS by the Senate Bill Clerk under the direction of the Secretary of the Senate

Vote Summary

Question: On the Amendment (Feinstein Amdt. No. 2637 )
Vote Number: 24 Vote Date: March 2, 2004, 11:38 AM
Required For Majority: 1/2 Vote Result: Amendment Agreed to
Amendment Number: S.Amdt. 2637 to S. 1805
Statement of Purpose: To provide for a 10-year extension of the assault weapons ban.

Akaka (D-HI)
Bayh (D-IN)
Biden (D-DE)
Bingaman (D-NM)
Boxer (D-CA)
Breaux (D-LA)
Byrd (D-WV)
Cantwell (D-WA)
Carper (D-DE)
Chafee (R-RI)
Clinton (D-NY)
Collins (R-ME)
Conrad (D-ND)
Corzine (D-NJ)
Daschle (D-SD)
Dayton (D-MN)
DeWine (R-OH)
Dodd (D-CT)
Dorgan (D-ND)
Durbin (D-IL)
Edwards (D-NC)
Feinstein (D-CA)
Fitzgerald (R-IL)
Graham (D-FL)
Gregg (R-NH)
Harkin (D-IA)
Hollings (D-SC)
Inouye (D-HI)
Jeffords (I-VT)
Kennedy (D-MA)
Kerry (D-MA)
Kohl (D-WI)
Lautenberg (D-NJ)
Leahy (D-VT)
Levin (D-MI)
Lieberman (D-CT)
Lincoln (D-AR)
Lugar (R-IN)
Mikulski (D-MD)
Murray (D-WA)
Nelson (D-FL)
Pryor (D-AR)
Reed (D-RI)
Rockefeller (D-WV)
Sarbanes (D-MD)
Schumer (D-NY)
Smith (R-OR)
Snowe (R-ME)
Stabenow (D-MI)
Voinovich (R-OH)
Warner (R-VA)
Wyden (D-OR)

You are correct that more and more Democrats are not talking about gun control because of the positive effect it has on getting elected. But some senior Democrats whose base in a few home states like the idea of gun control keep trying to made it a national issue. Making gun control a national issue is a losing strategy in many places but especially the South.

[NightWatcher]

20. we have a guy running against Jack Kingston

and after I hear back from him to get his views and find if he is a blue dog or not. If he appears to be a good guy, I will SO jump on his bandwagon and do my damndest to get Kingston out of here

[RubyDuby in GA]

27. I live just outside of Atlanta

It really is like scaling the Berlin Wall - metro Atlanta is a liberal paradise compared to driving just 5 miles past the perimeter. I live more like 20 past the perimeter and it is a wingnut wasteland.

As for a Dem's chance of winning - only John Edwards has the remotest chance and that is slim.
There is absolutely no way that Hillary Clinton can win this state and in fact, she will hurt our down ballot candidates.

I will send you some grits. PM me with your address. :)

[RiverStone]

38. grits!

Oh thanks RubyDuby for the offer - very kind of ya! I told you I miss that southern hospitality...

In fact, it is possible to find grits out here on the west coast. I make em a few times a year - my kids don't like them. Funny thing about grits, it seems either you really like them or really dislike them.

Ah but for real intrigue --- may one ask what you put on your grits? :shrug:

Me - raisins and butter

[RubyDuby in GA]

72. Actually, I'm one of those who doesn't really like them, but I don't really dislike them either

If I have to eat them, lots and lots of butter.

But the hubby and the 16 month old absolutely love them - with bacon and butter. Hubby puts cheese on his too.

Just keep me in mind if you ever want a certain kind that you can't get in the hinterlands where they probably don't serve sweet tea or have Coke! :)

[aikoaiko]

43. Don't foreget Savannah -- the San Francisco of GA.

:toast::hippie: :toast:

[mmonk]

29. Some reps for congress surely can and will.

[Virginia Dare]

31. Virginia is looking very good...

Plus, I think if Rudy's the nominee he won't do very well in Virginia, the repubies don't like him down here for his gun stance.


RICHMOND, Oct. 15 -- Gov. Timothy M. Kaine and former governor Mark R. Warner are dominating the race for campaign cash as the two Democrats step up efforts to take from Republicans the General Assembly this fall and a U.S. Senate seat next year.

In campaign finance reports filed Monday, Kaine and Warner reported that they each had more than $1 million in the bank, which political observers said was another sign that the state's Democratic Party is on the rebound.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/10/15/AR2007101501030.html

[jpljr77]

48. I don't think VA is in play to Dems.

The demographics of Northern Virginia have shifted quite a bit since 9/11, with defense contractors snapping up office space and housing exploding.

And do I really need to tell you which way NoVa residents that work at defense contractors will vote?

2004 looked very promising, especially in the late polls. But Bush still won the state by 8.2%.

[Done]

34. The south is not all that different.

Democrats do better in urban area, but very poorly in rural areas. Problem is...the south is more rural. Democrats have to pick their battles carefully. They can, and do, win many (more urban) Congressional districts.

Some states are always going to be written off in the presidental election, but this should never be openly acknowledged. For the record, we run a 50 state campaign. In 2004 Kerry made it clear that he wouldn't win in the south, and he didn't need to. Kerry told his supporters in the south to stay home, and many did. It made no difference in the electoral vote, but it could have impacted Congressional races, and it may have denied Kerry a decisive win in the popular vote.

[NoPasaran]

35. Texas---no

We're slowly picking up seats in the Legislature, but the State Senate is way out of reach. There's a chance we can run a credible campaign against Cornyn. Nick Lampson is going to have a tough time hanging on to Tom DeLay's old seat in TX-22... some are optimistic we can unseat McCaul in TX-10.

The State Party... still pretty much a mess, but there have been some improvements in the last couple of years. 2010 is the year when most of the statewides are up" we'll see if we have any serious contenders then.

[Odin2005]

39. I'm not a southerner, but I thiink we can win several Southern states.

The big thing, IMO, is that we MUST resist the urge to bring up the gun issue.

[AZ Criminal JD]

40. Even if the gun issue is not brought up

It will be brought up to our candidate. S/he has to be able to say 'just say no' to gun control and be done with it. It is not going anywhere anyway.

[NC_Nurse]

42. I have a hard time seeing it happen here.

There are islands of blue in the red sea of NC, but not enough to turn the tide.
On the bright side, people keep moving here from other places, so maybe someday soon
there will be hope.

[JackDragna]

51. Wait..are you serious?

No Democrat has a chance in hell of winning a state south of Tennessee and east of New Mexico anymore. We are done in the south, end of story. Every dollar we waste on the rabid idiots here is a dollar not spend on more rational places (Ohio, Pennsylvania, Minnesota, Missouri) where it could do a damned bit of difference. People here are so inculcated into the rabid racist, fundamentalist Christian culture so carefully cultivated by the right that we could run the reincarnation of JFK against a ham sandwich and still lose every state that was once in the Confederacy.

[knight_of_the_star]

56. I think you mean the Deep South

The Upper South we can win, look at which way Virginia has been drifting over the past several years. The Deep Old South we probably can't get but we can swing the Upper South.

[HeeBGBz]

55. I know quite a few would vote for Gore

Don't know about all of them though.

[Sparkly]

58. I have hope for Virginia

but then I've had hope for Virginia for awhile... Still, Webb was a GREAT step!!

[NOLALady]

59. I believe the Dems will lose in Louisiana.

[DemocratSinceBirth]

60. Perhaps , Just Pehaps FL, AR and VA

The rest of the south is Republican controlled territory....

[SaveElmer]

62. Absolutely...

I see alot of support for Hillary where I am and she is polling quite well here in Virginia. Arkansas is a lock...she is polling close to 20% and above over the GOP there...several recent polls have her ahead in Florida...and she is even competitive in Alabama for God's sakes...

It is looking very good...

[skipos]

63. Look at

http://www.electoral-vote.com/ and, depending on what you feel about election fraud, you can see which states (MO, AR, VA, FL) are more realistic than others (the states that George Wallace won).

[Aristus]

64. Only if the Dems repeal the 1964 Voting Rights Act and bring back slavery.

None of those thousands of Confederate flags mean "heritage", and every single one means "slavery". For a bunch of people who screeched "Get over it!" in 2000, they have a hard time getting over a little thing called "emancipation".

[UGADUer]

65. I live in Georgia -- the thing that keeps Dems from winning here is the party SUCKS

They think they can win by being GOP-lite so they end up turning off minorities/the poor/working people/unions. If they understood progressive organizing and didn't give traditional Democratic constituency the finger, they'd be able to win. Quite frankly, the social demographics are not that different from the north. Our party is just incompetent and too elitist.

[RubyDuby in GA]

73. ding! ding! ding! We have a winner for Georgia!

Couldn't have said it better myself.

The Atlanta area DUers are getting together soon. Wanna come hang out with us and bitch about everything? :)

[MedleyMisty]

67. Durrr I live in Nawth Caralina

Whut is dis keyboard thing? Ah dont unnerstan. Fork, no eat soup.

Funny, I grew up in the town Mayberry is based on and everyone was an individual and not a cardboard cutout of an ignorant stereotype.

Democrats can win here as easily as they can anywhere else. Stop trying to out evil the Republicans and represent actual people as opposed to corporations and big campaign donors.

Oh, and stopping the regional hatred and stereotyping and elitism would help a lot too. I don't know about you, but I'm not very likely to listen to people who won't listen to me and dismiss me off hand just because of where I happen to live.

[colinmom71]

68. I also agree with those stating that Edwards is our best chance to win southern states...

Despite the "trial lawyer" smear right-wingers are trying to hit him with, Edawards has a platform that will appeal to a long neglected and once solid backbone to the south - working class folks who've seen fewer and fewer manufacturing and non-college education required jobs for a greater amount of those seeking work. And this is a population that is getting older, with the resultant growing need for social and medical services....

While the following is anecdotal, it surprised me enough to mention here. I had a conversation with my dad a few months ago. As usual, we turned talk to Presidential candidates, which is always fun (not) because he and I have never seen eye-to-eye politically. He's as bad a Bush-bot as they come and the epitome of the white entitlement vote. Votes nothing but Republican as long as I've been aware. But he shocked me when he told me that his favorite potential candidate on either side is Edwards. Why? Exactly the reasons I mentioned above - a labor and populist focused platform for a decimated labor force. Frankly, if my dad will vote for Edwards, then Edwards may be our stealth candidate to start getting back southern states...

People are often terrible creatures of habit and the gears of change are grinding slowly here. But give us another few years with a stalemate Congress and throw in another Bush in the White House and these folks will soon wind up screaming for someone like Edwards who actually is paying attention to the need for more widely accessible medical care and the lack of labor jobs due to corporate outsourcing. And if the current water crisis continues to appear to be mishandled, you're going to see some very angry people turning against the current Republican powers-that-be. If Democratic Party elected officials were smart, they'd start focusing on all political efforts on resolving the water issues at both the state and federal level...

[harun]

71. Excellent remarks, I would put my dad in the same boat

He still works in a factory actually as well. The older they get the more likely they are to vote. A lot of these voters would love an opportunity to get a populist candidate. The MSM won't want it, neither will the elites; I think it is the best way to go. Nominating Edwards that is. Edwards/Obama is a powerhouse of a ticket.

[SIMPLYB1980]

70. Yes the Democratic party can pick up the South.

Just make a effort and don't leave us to the fascist.
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x1656111

[ulysses]

74. probably not yet in GA.

Maybe elsewhere, I don't know.

[DemoTex]

75. Upstate SC - Greenville - Spartanburg: still redder than a baboon's ass.

Greenville will probably replace retiring Democratic City Commissioner Michelle Shain with Democrat Kevin Mertens next month. Otherwise, the political future here remains redder than a baboon's ass (they love DeMint, Graham, Inglis, Bu$h, McCain, and Guiliani; they love war; and they really, really love Jesus!).

On the other hand, now that Steven Colbert is in the race in SC (and only SC!), maybe things will change.