A Gift To Dems

Democratic ‘Axis of Evil’?
Political columnist and Ole Miss journalism professor Joe Atkins said the Obama administration would likely bring with it a modern vision of government that would move away from the conservative-leaning views of the Clinton administration, with more regulation, some government aid to industries, with an emphasis on the middle class and rebuilding the nation’s infrastructure.

“The Democratic Leadership Council and Bill Clinton announced that the day of big government had come to an end and began pushing for free trade and welfare reform,” Atkins said. “Now we’re at the end of the Reagan/Bush/Clinton era, and we’ve seen government stripped down to the point where our parks and infrastructure are falling apart. and we’ve got huge deficits because of military spending. Obama seems to have a plan to take the nation in a different direction and, right now, the public appears to be behind him.”

What works for the national party may not resound with local Democrats, however. The South, long an important factor in national Democratic primaries—both recent Democrat Presidents Clinton and Jimmy Carter were southerners—found itself marginalized this year. The state party must contend with a population that remains resoundingly conservative, if not outright Republican, even in the face of a nationwide political upheaval, leading some pundits to predict that the GOP will be a regional southern party for years to come.

Mississippi Democrats know they must work inside a state where social issues like gay marriage and abortion remain effective power tools in the hands of Republicans, even as national Democrats solidify their dominance. Democratic candidates like Senate candidate Ronnie Musgrove and Rep. Travis Childers paraded their support for gun rights and marriage defense, even in the face of the slumping national economy—which took first place among national voters’ concerns during the last election—fearing that Mississippians will vote more for divisive wedge issues than their pocketbooks.

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