what issues are important to Southerners?

guns, gays, or economics

from your list, my top would be economics. IMO, the south really is economically disadvantaged. The opportunities just are not there like they are in some places.

I know others who would make guns a big issue, though - my dad and my husband just to name a couple.

I don't really know anyone who feels strongly about gay issues. Myself, I say let them have the same rights and freedoms as anyone else. They are people too.

Keep in mind, though, that none of your three are at the very top of my list right now. But, out of the three, I chose economics.

Southerners, for the most part, are radically pro-life/anti-choice. You have to understand the difference in perspective. For many of them, it's not an issue of controlling women's bodies.

They REALLY BELIEVE, DEEPLY, in their heart of hearts, that there is NO DIFFERENCE in cutting the throat of a 5-year-old child and aborting a 5-week fetus. NONE.

Please don't knee-jerk react to this post -- pause just a minute. Regardless of how misguided or extreme that may seem to us, imagine that you REALLY BELIEVED that a candidate was in favor of cold-blooded murder of children.

Would you vote for him? Not in a billion years.

The "single-issue" voters in the South -- which, by my guesstimate, is at least 60-70% of them, feel THAT strongly about it.

I don't know how we can win the south, but shutting the hell up about abortion might help.

I anticipate being flamed into oblivion, maybe even banned, but, y'all, I've lived in Alabama my entire life. I know the Christian Coalition types WELL. They raised me. I'm telling you how they REALLY think -- not how I think. What I honestly believe would help our cause -- and our case SHOULD be getting votes, correct?

*strapping on asbestos suit*

I'm hoping you're wrong, afraid you might be right.

In the last days of her campaign, in Louisiana Blanco has focused on Jindal's support of laws to deny doctors the right to perform an abortion even to save the life of a mother. In the mailings and phone calls I received, this was the only issue discussed. Now, I think it's a good issue, and a good point to make, but I was a bit concerned that it would turn off the voters in mostly Catholic Louisiana, where an abortion is damned hard to come by in the first place.

As I type this, with about half the precincts reporting, Blanco is actually ahead. Now don't get me wrong, she is still not a proponent of "abortion on demand" by any means. But if this campaign works, it may be a sign that a blind support for any stupid anti-abortion measure that comes down the pike is NOT going to work for the GOP any more. You mention that some believe that killing a 5 week fetus is the same as killing a 5 year old child, but keep in mind that many are equally afraid of having a lawyer or a police officer decide if their daughter or wife will live or die.

I have been told by many that the reason the Democrats lost the south is because they want to get rid of guns. Not that that is true or makes any sense but I have been told that repeatedly by some people that even have a semblance of brains.

I've lived in Georgia for 14 years & know a startling number of one-issue voters. Guns are #1 with a lot of people.

I was born and raised, and still live in the heart of La. My family votes Repub primarily because of this issue.

I will try to explain it:

Southerners do not trust government, period; it is instinctive. The reason the working-class-white South votes against Dem (not necessarily FOR repub, but primarily against Dem) is greatly because of this issue. History teaches us repeatedly that one of the steps a totalitarian-aspiring nation makes is in disarming the general population. When a Dem presidential candidate steps into La and Tx, etc touting gun control he signs his political death warrant as far as the working/middle-whites are concerned.

Gun control does nothing to address the underlying force of violence in human nature, just as preventive invasion/war does nothing to address the force behind the tactic of terrorism against the U.S. Gun control is to guns in the South what the Drug War is to drugs everywhere, and we all know just how successful the drug war has been...

This stand in defense of the 2nd amendment is not going to change in the South; the Dems will have to adapt if they want to even get the "disenfranshised whites" to listen and vote Dem, like Dean is trying to do in bridging the party/cultural gap.

Besides all of this, hunting is the primary sport here running neck and neck with fishing; we love deer meat.

instead of worrying about what someone else is doing...

I just came home from a Howard Dean house party, and this very same subject came up (we are in CT). Someone asked the question as to how can we as Northerners get the message out to the South, and also what are their main concerns? These very same topics were the points discussed.

Many of the people present have either relatives or close friends in the South, and it was brought up about the "one issue" people (which actually occurs everywhere) Anyway, it was so helpful to see this post, and I hope that we can turn things around next election cycle so that all of us get the best representation possible.

XXXOOO
boilerbabe

I would not argue your point but I would argue your estimate on the percentage of people who feel that way. I would say that in any event it doesn't exceed about 10% of the population in any area, and may not even begin to be that high in most. I say that based on what I hear from my friends and family in the Carolinas mostly. Here in West Virginia I would put an estimate on the number who feel that abortion is the top issue and feel as you have described at less than 3%. That is not to say that less than 3% are against abortion, only that it is a very few of them who will absolutly reject a candidate because of that one issue.

If I had to name the issues important here it would be the economy, the lies, the war, the loss of jobs, the affronts to our libertys,l the sellout of the public trust to monied interests, the rape of public lands, and on and on and on. Oh one more thing, and this one is particularly important in this area because so many people heat with oil - people are mighty weary of fuel prices and as the heating season begins to slam up it doesn't hurt a thing to remind folks that an Oilman is in charge and we are being milked by the oil companys - this is something that Bush can be held accountable for, with his insinuations that he actually was a player.

God Bless Robert Byrd.

Thom



Thom

that is evidently informed by your experience and observation. True, I do NOT agree with what you describe as the Southern view of the choice issues. But it is interesting to read this, and I'm truly trying to get a handle on it. I HOPE you're right, that it's not expressly for the subjugation of women, although I feel a lot of that out there.

I'd also say, as a NON-observer, that what I read and am led to understand and grok is that much of the belief system of the South is deeply rooted in old-time religion and the Bible.

But I'm from California and can only speak with credibility about how many of us feel out here.

Besides, your post is so courteous that I don't see how people would want to flame you. Note: I just finished reading the 237 DU reviews on Amazon.com's website review pages, so I'm of that mentality at the moment.

... get back to free republic, or churchburning.com or wherever the hell you came from .

n/t

and Football

..and moon pies.

And at least in western North Carolina, eastern Tennessee...don't forget RC Cola.

and we just can't please them. we can do a number of things in the fcc to limit their power, but not until we elect a President.

There are plenty of us right here.

...to DU...only the intelligent ones.

The rest of them are down at Billy-Bob's Hog Farm and Tractor-pull.

JK

with those who consider them rubes.

"The rest of them are down at Billy-Bob's Hog Farm and Tractor-pull."

I live in the South myself and was being sarcastic.
I apologize...I should have made that clear..

Thought it might have been your initials, since some people here sign their posts that way.

Peace.

turned them into more than a one-issue voter? I think it has and will.

I know, as a Southerner, that economics is a HUGE factor here, but people simply do not see the light. Here in Chattanooga, the average wage is about $18K annually. I know fro firsthand experience how difficult it is to pay for rent, daycare, utilities, gasoline, food, and other expenses on such an income. Any emergency is a catastrophe. My wife and I earned $16,500 (pre-tax) working very hard at a local major health insurer. My dad, a heavy equipment mechanic, earns less now than in the late 1970's. Face it, we need UNIONS in the South, but the same people who would have a direct benefit from them routinely swallow the Rush/Sean Hannity/etc line about how BAD they are. This is why wages suck here and many areas of this region are little better than some Third World countries. Skilled manual labor jobs, if you can find them, pay next to nothing. All the local manufacturing jobs have gone to illegals from Mexico and South America. It's got to end because the economy is creating a new permanent class of poor.

(your neighbor from Arkansas). You also stated it much more eloquently than I did.

I'm a Yankee living in the South. I love to poke fun at my neighbors, but only if they can take it and don't own a gun.

I think the economy would be a primary concern to those who can spell it and know what it is. Almost all of them can spell JOB, though, if they have one or not.

From the number of anti-abortion billboards and pro-life license plates I see, I must agree that abortion is also a big issue. Unfortunately, the signs I see (and the license plates, too) indicate a large Republican faction, no matter the other issues.

I hope that my Southern neighbors can target more than one issue before the 2004 elections. I also hope they don't all have guns.

Dems have positions favorable to most Southerners on economics. The Southerners who benefit the most have little voice in big media and are often forgotten. We need to keep paying attention to them and pay more attention to them.

Dean's states' rights position on guns is about the best Dems can do, IMHO, to play for rural and urban voters who often have different views on guns. (If you live in the city the police are close and will come pretty quickly. If you live in the country, the police are often far away and your phone line might have been cut anyway.) I think we'd do well to talk some, in rural areas, about ownership of guns for protecting oneself in addition to hunting.

And with God, for the candidates who are Christian, mention Him occassionally. Quote verses from the Bible that support Democratic policy. Talk about Him in the context of one's own faith, if that is your faith. Democratic positions are exactly in line with Jesus's beliefs. There are quotes all throughout the bible that support us. Use them: Here is a good site for quick research.

I think you make some good points there and show some great understanding.

Being from a rural area and having a husband who works out of town, I feel a certain amount of comfort having my gun close at hand.

About the police issue, when my dad's house was broken into a few weeks ago, it took about an hour for a policeman to arrive.

It really is a different life in rural areas than in cities or even towns.

I do understand Dean's point with state's rights. I like that he recognizes that some areas of the country have to have laws that deal with a different set of problems than others.

I don't necessarily agree with the mention of God but I can agree that it is a good thing to do to appeal to many Christians in the South. Personally, I have been completely turned off by all the recent overuse of the stuff.

I have even talked to someone who left their church b/c the pastor was actually preaching that people who didn't support the war were unpatriotic. I could barely believe that. But I guess I shouldn't have been so surprised.

I definately agree on Dean's gun stance.