Is the South different?

As I was listening to Kerry on Sunday, when asked, he replied that he did not see a problem for a Yankee to win the South. The South, he said, faces similar concerns of jobs, etc.

And I was thinking that, perhaps, what we refer to as the South - the states that seceded from the Union - does have voters with similar hopes and concerns as traditional Democrats. I think that many voters have seen their industries and jobs disappearing - never to come back.

The "translation" is needed, I think, in the southwest and in the mountain. These are states where individualism is king and where any attempt to "tamper" with this treasured life style is to be fought.

The reality, of course, is that unless one lives in a cabin in Montana, one is dependent on a government program. The reality is that our lives are dependent on the welfare of others and the task is to communicate this.

In this area of NW Arkansas, there has been a huge influx of outsiders. Many are Yankee retirees, attracted by low taxes. The others are Hispanics who are attracted by the employment opportunities at chicken factories like Tyson. I've talked to native Arkansans and to transplants, and their concerns are the same as they appear to be elsewhere: health care, military (lots of Guardsmen from around here), and the economy. I'm hearing more and more that they don't like Bush. They are waiting to see who the Democratic nominee is. If these issues are hit, and the people around here are treated with respect, the South can be won by the Democrats.

And he was a real Yankee. I do think we in the North do not know what is really going on in the South, I see the south from having lived their years ago.A great many people have moved in to the South, but I still hear a lot of what I heard years ago and that was when it was Dem.and the schools were white and black and they wanted to keep them that way. I still hear this from a lot of people in the South.This shades every thing else. The people are Dem but some under current thing is going on.

both senators are Dems and I had the pleasure of meeting former US Senator David Pryor in SC last weekend, stand up guy, really nice and down to earth. He was stomping for Clark down there.

AK is Alaska. People make this mistake all the time-and my mail is often delayed because of it. AR is the abbreviation for Arkansas.

Central Arkansas Dem here and I have really been worrying about our chances b/c of all the seemingly Repub support up in the Northwest.

What's the standard from which the South shall be judged? Without sounding too judgemental?

As someone mentioned - rural vs. urban, though Metro Atlanta, Memphis, Tallahassee, Montgomery, etc. are not rural.

The image that we have - that I have - is that organized religion plays an important role in life of southerners - more than in the life of northerns. This is why Dean went with Carter to church a few weeks ago.

From this, I think, come the "hot button" issues of abortion and of gay marriage.

The question is: if a northern candidate can stick to the issues of the economy, of jobs, of health care of even the shabby way that our military personnel are being treated - can such a candidate win in the South? I think that it was right after Bush lost N.H. that he went to Bob Jones university. Bush's usage of religious images, including the "axis of evil" if offensive to many of us in the north, upper Midwest and the west coast, but is it to people in the south?

Do voters in the south expect a candidate to insert Jesus in the sentences and to talk about religious belief? Is this the only way to gain their trust?

I apologize if I offend anyone; I realize that I am using stereotyping but I think that some of it is evident in the question of "detectability." I think that this is one reason why Edwards and Clark have been embraced - and I like Edwards - because they are from the south and because the last three Dem presidents were from the south and SW.

difference. The West is also heavily Republican. If you break the map of blue versus red states down to counties you see that rural communities in the Northeast tended to vote for Bush as well.

The question is what makes rural communities trend Republican. Religion is clearly one influence. Small town folks tend to hunt more, so guns are a factor. Is education a factor? What else is there?

are barely surviving when times are good. When times are bad as now in the suburbs it's normal there. You better understand that, if you think we have any chance in the south it will be someone from the south or someone who will use red flag issues like abortion, guns, and gay marriage. If those are any part of our message we lose.

until my Southern Baptist boss came into the office one day, pounded the desk with his fist, and said, "We've GOT to get rid of Bush! He's ruining the economy!"

Yeah, there are some who vote on red flag issues, but others seem to forget them when it comes down to financial matters.

Funny stuff. You would think a bible-thumper like Bush could send the economy straight into the toilet and the bible-thumpers would still say "At least he's a good christian man". Instead, it's the economy. I wonder if he'd vote for an atheist if the atheist gave him a good economic plan?

Don't get me wrong. I'm glad he's seeing the light, for whatever reason. But still.

I'm in the suburbs of Atlanta, and at least within my 10-mile radius, it's VERY conservative. I've been in more than one shouting match.

Atlanta is unusual in that most of the population is transplants from Ohio, Pennsylvania, Michigan and New York. However, they moved here because they liked the conservative political climate, as well as the weather. Radio host Neal Boortz, who promotes himself as a Libertarian (but he isn't) gets huge ratings here, and Hannity, who launched himself from our WGST, is also a favorite.

The natives in the areas outlying Atlanta have turned to the Republicans thanks to talk radio and they're belief that Democrats give "handouts" (that they fear are going to "lazy blacks on welfare") and want to take their guns. Mexicans they don't mind, surprisingly, because they mow their yards and clean their gutters cheap.

HOWEVER, at the last Dean meet-up I went to they showed us a map that this county was divided something like 52/48 Bush/Gore in the last election, so maybe it's just my particular zone.

ArtieBoy, from the ground in Atlanta.

Too numerous and complicated to list here.

But what we southerners (I'm really from south Louisiana...deeeeeep south, almost in the water) hate most, IMO, is that there seems to be a northerner 'tude about the south, as if we don't matter, we are a different and lesser sort of group of people.

Example: Dean's comment about the pickup trucks with confederate flags. Besides being insulting to conversative white males in the south, it showed his lack of understanding of the south. My brother is a conservative white male. He has an SUV....no confederate flag. (He used to have a pickup truck, though. Bush has one. Lots of people in the south have pickup trucks, which are the precursor to the SUV.)

When I heard that comment, it reminded me that he was a yankee with a certain view of the south. It then follows that he would not treat the south the same as he would other areas of the country.

So I'd prefer to vote for someone who is either from the south, or has spent considerable time in the south, or has relatives in the south. One of those things. But that's a preference, not a requirement.

I, personally, have never voted for or against ANY candidate because of where he is from. The ONLY people I EVER hear judging candidates by their location is Southerners.

I think the attitude problem is projection. Carter won. Clinton won. You didn't hear any northerners whining about how they "can't win in the north".

NT

and the south and west play more to Clark and Edwards. I think SC is a must win for Edwards. One of the states west is a must for Clark. Kerry may play well but certainly will be a drop off from New England.

I think in truth, the megalopolis from Boston to DC, is what makes people think that the south is behind. The mid-atlantic and north has always been used as a measuring stick to the south which doesn't have the luxury of having a 5 or 6 city conglomerate which dictates social culture, investment banking, and politics. I think that is the main root of the North/South problem.

that yellowdogs in the south are different than northern democrats. if a democrat knows how to campaign in the south, he can win. Atlanta's population can outweigh rural Georgia if the nominee will focus on the metro area. Mayor Franklin is a very good mayor too that could help with the campaign. The key to the south is strategy, not that you have to be moderate.