Should we bother campaigning in the South?

We've won states in the South before, but should we give up campaigning in the region and focus on swing states, or perhaps just abandon the most hopeless states?

So is Arkansas and maybe a couple others if Clark is on the ticket. Dean was right when he said that Republican policies are harming the average southerner -- black or white. That's a message that needs to be heard.

You know there's a lot of Southerners on the board feeling pretty touchy about this subject, right?

Are winnable if done right. We need a Senate Candidate in Georgia though.

Coupla things:

1. We do have a Dem Senate candidate; Mary Squires. Admittedly, hasn't shown fundraising ability. But if no heavyhitters step up, she would be unopposed in the primary, and the party can get behind her then.

2. I was at an event the other night in which the mayor of Atlanta was asked about running for the Senate seat. She first said she didn't think she could win because of having to raise taxes, but then said that it was her understanding that current officeholders have to give up their office to run for another office. She said she thought this should be challenged, and implied if not for that rule, she might run, and that it kept many from running for different seats.

3. I think Georgia is winnable. Several things have to fall in place, but it could happen. Even Matt Towery, who was at the same event with the Mayor, admitted that the state is more closely divided than many believe. We lost the Cleland and Perdue battles, but they were very close. And we have many Dem statewide officeholders. The Dem party has no leadership, and I think Mark Taylor needs to take over and start kicking some butts.

Arkansas
Louisiana
Florida
Virginia (in 2000: Bush 52% / Gore 45%)
Tennessee (in 2000: Bush 51% / Gore 47.5%)
West Virginia (is it really part of the south?)

-Kentucky is out of the question
-The Carolinas, Alabama, Olde Miss, and Georgia are going BIG TIME to Bush
-Texas, FORGET IT!

leaving the South would make us look like a "regional party" instead of a national one. We can take back the south, but it won't happen overnight.

don't give up on us and leave us out!

It should be "Depends."

I think that whether or not we give up on the South depends on who our candidate is. I think that some candidates have a chance to take some Southern states and other candidates don't have a chance.

If we choose a candidate who does not win any Southern states, winning will be more difficult, but still possible. In addition,spending resources on campaigning in the South would just be a waste of resources and should be concentrated on winning those states that we could win.

in fact, other than ross perot's, and henry wallace's, efforts there seems not to have been any "national" party without local roots in a long time.

The democratic message needs to be heard LOUD and CLEAR!!! I've already told my kids that if 2 of the candidates (before primaries/candidate after) go to Memphis or Nashville they're out of school and we'll be there! It would be incredibly demoralizing not to have the candidate(s) show up - we're tired of being slapped around and we need some help.

Instead of being ignored or written off, we need help. Thanks for saying that.

On edit, maybe we should just give up on being Democrats becuase we don't get enough attention (much like some people have written off certain candidates for not focusing on their state).

(Sorry for that, it just came out.)

I am a Christian, I own a gun, and I am a Democrat. He also had other Democratic bumperstickers on his farm truck. We do need the message spoken loud and clear down here.

South, so of course yes. Silly to think otherwise.

I mean presidentially.

Maybe if some of us southerners were able to see "up close and personal" what some of you others have seen, we wouldn't be considered so stupid because we would actually have something new to base our opinions on.

;). Yes we should, without a doubt, for the same reason I listed above.

I want the D's to win, and toward that end it is in their best interest to avoid wasting their time in my state. Sad, but my vote will not count and any D campaigning here would wasting time. I hate the fucking electoral voting system. Any D candidate should make the repeal of this an issue.

After Zell Miller endorsed Bush, I agreed with KG here that we should essentially write off the south. I don't think that we should any more, but we can't do anything except waste money in the south if we continue to play by the GOP rulebook in which race is everything. Dems should come at the south from an economic angle.

We might do better to concentrate harder in the western and midwestern states.

If you run someone who is left wing like Dean, then prepare for another McGovern/Mondale type of result.

If you run a centrist, the whole nation is in play.

Welcome to DU!! :toast:

I'm in SC, and no amount of money or campaigning will bring it from chimpy's grasp. I'd much rather if our candidate spent money on other southern states that are winnable like LA, AR, and FL.

South Carolina is important for the primary, and I see that as my real chance to vote for president. I obviously intend to vote for the nominee in the general, but I'm a realist and I know it won't make much difference here.

watch out for the hanging chads and if you are black walk to the polls.