Dems, It’s Time to Dump Dixie

[DonViejo]

Michael Tomasky

With Mary Landrieu’s ignominious exit, the Democrats will have lost their last senator in the Deep South. And that’s a good thing. They should write it off—because they don’t need it.

I don’t remember a much sadder sight in domestic politics in my lifetime than that of Mary Landrieu schlumpfing around these last few weeks trying to save a Senate seat that was obviously lost. It was like witnessing the last two weeks of the life of a blind and toothless dog you knew the vet was just itching to destroy. I know that sounds mean about her, but I don’t intend it that way. She did what she could and had, as far as I know, an honorable career. I do, however, intend it to sound mean about the reactionary, prejudice-infested place she comes from. A toothless dog is a figure of sympathy. A vet who takes pleasure in gassing it is not.

And that is what Louisiana, and almost the entire South, has become. The victims of the particular form of euthanasia it enforces with such glee are tolerance, compassion, civic decency, trans-racial community, the crucial secular values on which this country was founded… I could keep this list going. But I think you get the idea. Practically the whole region has rejected nearly everything that’s good about this country and has become just one big nuclear waste site of choleric, and extremely racialized, resentment. A fact made even sadder because on the whole they’re such nice people! (I truly mean that.)

With Landrieu’s departure, the Democrats will have no more senators from the Deep South, and I say good. Forget about it. Forget about the whole fetid place. Write it off. Let the GOP have it and run it and turn it into Free-Market Jesus Paradise. The Democrats don’t need it anyway.

Actually, that’s not quite true. They need Florida, arguably, at least in Electoral College terms. Although they don’t even really quite need it—what happened in 2012 was representative: Barack Obama didn’t need Florida, but its 29 electoral votes provided a nice layer of icing on the cake, bumping him up to a gaudy 332 EVs, and besides, it’s nice to be able to say you won such a big state. But Florida is kind of an outlier, because culturally, only the northern half of Florida is Dixie. Ditto Virginia, but in reverse; culturally, northern Virginia is Yankee land (but with gun shops).

more
http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2014/12/08/dems-it-s-time-to-dump-dixie.html

[belzabubba333]

1. great now build the dang fence to fence them off and keep them there while we move on

[dixiegrrrrl]

7. The millions of Dem voters who live in the South

do not appreciate the all too common and very outmoded stereotypes of what Southerners are like.
Dumb fuck Republicans live in other states as well, remember.

The Dems have already made a huge mistake by focusing on only teh national elections and allowing more and more states to be taken over by the Republicans, at the Governor and Legislature level.

[belzabubba333]

9. did u really need me to put a sarcasm tag on the post

[CherokeeDem]

14. No she didn't....

She's right and I agree with her.

Last time I looked... there are Republicans everywhere. Stop writing off Democrats regardless of where they live.

[belzabubba333]

16. im sorry i wasnt clear - il fix it

[cordelia]

29. Please do.

[belzabubba333]

30. already done

[Hortensis]

125. Our neighbor with uncontrollable blood pressure has a new insurance premium this year.

$923 per month with a $10,000 deductible. They're small farmers, or were as they're getting too old, no matter how hard they work. And they do, very hard. These bills must be breaking them fast. Frankly, I have no idea how they've lasted this long. These are people who sell eggs for cash and haven't been to a local restaurant in years.

That $923 is the cost for free-market insurance, of course, placed for them by their friendly local commission-added agent. Unfortunately, they believe the lies that Obamacare will destroy the country and that people under it are dying for lack of care.

Living in the South, this kind of willful stupidity is a constant frustration, and I can't help sympathizing with the fantasy of fencing these people off to keep from dragging the nation down, but our friends are very good people otherwise. Their premiums last year were horribly high, much, much, much higher than my federal-exchange own that I quoted to them, but they see struggling to pay free market prices as a matter of patriotism, freedom, and morality. They are trying to save their country and are willing to sacrifice themselves to do their part.

[CTyankee]

142. Oh, how sad!

Doesn't the ACA preclude such predatory policies from even being offered?

[Brainstormy]

42. Thank you dixiegrrrrl

I'm so offended by this op I'm shaking. I'll have to calm down and come back to reply.

[graywarrior]

49. There's a majority of republicans on the north shore in Massachusetts

I'm surrounded by them and believe me, they are greedy, wealthy mo'fos.

[Man from Pickens]

77. got room under that bus for me?

from this point of view I can see all sorts of mechanical problems in the undercarriage that should probably get fixed before something bad happens

[Still In Wisconsin]

80. you're absolutely right

I live in Wisconsin and the voters here are in the process of turning the state into one big corporate Jesusland.

[zentrum]

98. Then as people besieged....

...the Dems in the South need to get a lot, and I mean a lot , more organized and politically active and fight harder to register voters and save their own schools etc. Because as it exists now, the South is holding back the whole country and hurting legislation that the rest of us and the world, desperately need.

Yes, there are Republican idiots everywhere but we manage better to overcome them. And yes, it's true, that the Dems everywhere need a 50 strategy and need to get a lot more local. But the problem in the South is almost another animal regardless of some Dems who live there.

[jwirr]

104. I agree but would like to know if and when we can begin to hope to win in the south. With

gerrymandering and voter restriction will the Democratic Party ever be able to win these states back? I also think that the OP is talking about the electoral college totals and what states we need to win the presidency. That is not the same as disregarding all Democratic voters in the South.

[NYC_SKP]

2. We don't have to dump anyone. We need to quit the "identity politics" altogether, IMO.

Instead of focusing or ignoring the Yellow Dogs, or the Latinos, or the Soccer Moms, or Dixie (this all makes me sick just to type it), let's just do this:

Appeal to the common person, the working class, the 99%, the people who, whether they believe in guns or God or climate change or not, ALL feel the same pain at the pump, the paycheck, and the polls.

People are disconnected from power and capital and everything they've worked for.

This seems like the simplest thing in the world to do, quit dividing and start going after those common threads and themes that know no party boundaries.

[wilsonbooks]

8. plus 1000

[librechik]

28. yes indeed--focusing on shared issues rather than party affiliation gets lots of support

even when the voters don't know it. Just ask Norman Goldman. He can get a righty to agree with him within 3 questions. At the end of the conversation they're right back to worshipping Foxnews, though.

A sustained educational program is called for.

[Odin2005]

69. 4 out ot of 5 whites in the deep South vote Republican no matter what.

we will NEVER, EVER get their votes.

[hifiguy]

78. This is very true.

Read Joe Bageant's "Deer Hunting With Jesus" for the explanation of the whys and wherefores.

[Odin2005]

83. When we finally have a socialist revolution in this country...

...the deep south will the the center of reaction and fascist counter-revolution, I can guarantee it. Southerns are going to be flooded with lies about "Commies slaughtering Christians" and "forcing good Christian woman to have abortions" and other such shit. It will be ugly.

[Scootaloo]

128. But we still base our campaigns in the south on kissing their conservative asses

[dixiegrrrrl]

87. YES!!!!! and double YES!!!

I do that every chance I get.
The "in your face" attitude most definitely does not work down here, but the "Common Man" does.

Focusing only the differences between the parties keeps us divided and helpless.
Which has ALWAYS worked in the 1% favor.

[Man from Pickens]

121. Amen

it seems so obvious that the future is treating all people equally... presuming that future is any more enlightened than the ugly tribalism of the past and all its attendant evils

[ancianita]

141. So right! In Dixie, Dems have survived and fought too hard, too long to be abandoned now.

Abandoning Dixie is exactly the kind of thinking a Debbie Wasserman Schultz and old school politics would promote. That's not true to the Howard Dean or FDR Democrat crowd.

Besides, the Dems in Dixie have been sick of the starvation rations support and development the larger party has given them. They need real, material support. If Dixie gave up on the Dems, it's probably because they felt too tired to GOTV this past election; one can hardly blame them, given how poor the turnout was in even safe blue states.

Democratic GOTV message and effort suck. Dropping whole regions for poor opposition wins is bad strategy and is another version of corporatist politics in which whole states' votes don't matter.

[Lex]

3. Dumping a lot of African American democrats in the South.

But I guess that's okay.

[cordelia]

34. Thanks for pointing that out. South bashers seem to ignore or forget the

large - and growing - number of African Americans that live in the South.

[beerandjesus]

90. +1

And a lot of white Democrats, I hope that's obvious, but go google "Black Belt" and you'll see who this strategy is going to hurt most.

[yallerdawg]

4. Dems, Dixie dumped you.

Now we have to figure out how to get it back, not build higher fences.

[Octafish]

5. Don't forget Gov. Don Siegelman.

Rotting away, a victim of Rove-BFEE Just-Us.

[summerschild]

23. I keep re-reading all I can find about the Governor.

I keep searching for the reason he has been singled out and with so much resistance to doing the right thing.

Doss Aviation and the crooked judge date all the way back to Iran Contra. Do you think this is the reason?

[librechik]

32. crooked conflicted Justice in Alabama

for--ever. Don literally went down because he was a Democrat. The 3 previous republicans had all don the same thing of gifting that Honorary no salary position to they're campaign supporter. When the Dem does it, he goes to jail and don't get to be governor of Alabama. Karl Rove still owns Alabama.

[Octafish]

37. Absolutely. The guy has one thing the greedheads fear: Integrity

U.S. Judge Mark E. Fuller, the guy who helped railroad Gov. Don Siegelman.



Fuller just happens to be the owner of a company that's made a huge fortune off the Pentagon and War Inc via no-bid crony War on Terror largesse.

The Pork Barrel World of Judge Mark Fuller

By Scott Horton
Harper's August 6, 2007, 5:14 pm

For the last week, we’ve been examining the role played by Judge Mark Everett Fuller in the trial, conviction, and sentencing of former Alabama Governor Don E. Siegelman. Today, we examine a post-trial motion, filed in April 2007, asking Fuller to recuse himself based on his extensive private business interests, which turn very heavily on contracts with the United States Government, including the Department of Justice.

The recusal motion rested upon details about Fuller’s personal business interests. On February 22, 2007, defense attorneys obtained information that Judge Fuller held a controlling 43.75% interest in government contractor Doss Aviation, Inc. After investigating these claims for over a month, the attorneys filed a motion for Fuller’s recusal on April 18, 2007. The motion stated that Fuller’s total stake in Doss Aviation was worth between $1-5 million, and that Fuller’s income from his stock for 2004 was between $100,001 and $1 million dollars.

In other words, Judge Fuller likely made more from his business income, derived from U.S. Government contracts, than as a judge. Fuller is shown on one filing as President of the principal business, Doss Aviation, and his address is shown as One Church Street, Montgomery, Alabama, the address of the Frank M. Johnson Federal Courthouse, in which his chambers are located.

SNIP...

Doss Aviation and its subsidiaries also held contracts with the FBI. This is problematic when one considers that FBI agents were present at Siegelman’s trial, and that Fuller took the extraordinary step of inviting them to sit at counsel’s table throughout trial. Moreover, while the case was pending, Doss Aviation received a $178 million contract from the federal government.

CONTINUED...

http://www.harpers.org/archive/2007/08/hbc-90000762

There's a special place for Judge Fuller, and it's not on the bench, it's where warmongers and war profiteers should be working making little rocks out of big rocks.

But, yet, the money trumps peace game continues.

Details from an excellent summation:

Republican US district court judge Mark Fuller was arrested in Atlanta this month for beating his wife in an Atlanta hotel. The judge, in whose honor courts must rise, was charged with battery and taken to the Fulton County jail at 2:30AM Sunday morning August 10. If you look at the mug shot of Mark Fuller, he doesn’t inspire confidence. http://www.bradblog.com/?p=10748 and http:/www.informationclearinghouse.info/article39493.htm Fuller was a bitter enemy of Siegelman and should have recused himself from Siegelman’s trial, but ethical behavior required more integrity than Fuller has.

Among many, Scott Horton, a professor of law at Columbia University has provided much information in Harper’s magazine involving the corruption of Fuller and the Republican prosecuting attorneys, Alice Martin and Leura Canary. See: http://harpers.org/blog/2008/02/another-abusive-prosecution-by-alice-martin/ and http://harpers.org/blog/2008/02/cbs-more-prosecutorial-misconduct-in-siegelman-case-alleged/ and http://harpers.org/blog/2007/08/judge-fuller-and-the-trial-of-don-siegelman/ and http://harpers.org/blog/2007/06/siegelman-sentenced-riley-rushes-to-washington/ and http://harpers.org/blog/2007/10/karl-rove-linked-to-siegelman-prosecution/ and http://harpers.org/blog/2007/12/karl-rove-william-canary-and-the-siegelman-case/ and http://harpers.org/blog/2008/02/rove-and-siegelman/ and http://harpers.org/blog/2007/08/the-pork-barrel-world-of-judge-mark-fuller/ and see OpEdNews February 6, 2012, “Why did Karl Rove and his GOP Thugs target Don Siegelman in Alabama?” and http://www.huffingtonpost.com/bennett-l-gershman/why-is-don-siegelman_b_3094147.html

Google the case and you will see everything but justice.

The Republican frame-up of Siegelman is so obvious that various courts have overturned some of the bogus convictions. But the way “justice” works in America makes courts fearful of discrediting the criminal justice (sic) system by coming down hard on an obvious frame-up. To make the fact obvious that federal courts are used for political reasons is detrimental to the myth of justice in which gullible Americans believe.

Siegelman’s innocence is so obvious that 113 former state attorneys general have come out in his support. These attorneys general together with federal judges and members of Congress have written to Obama and to US attorney general Eric Holder urging Siegelman’s release from prison. Instead of releasing the innocent Siegelman, Obama and Holder have protected the Republican frameup of a Democratic governor.

CONTINUED...

http://www.counterpunch.org/2014/08/28/americas-corrupt-institutions/

Makes that meeting where Don Corleone was asked to share his look like small potatoes.

Before her big job on the Supreme Court, Justice Elena Kagan helped return Siegelman to prison.

Elena Kagan - Willing Accomplice

By Michael Collins

Then, when Siegelman appealed his case to the Supreme Court in 2009, President Obama's Attorney General dispatched Solicitor General Elena Kagan to argue against the appeal in November.

Before accepting the case, Elena Kagan knew or should have known: that the U.S. Attorney who began the Siegelman investigation was closely tied to Karl Rove; that Siegelman never benefited personally from the contribution to an education funding initiative; that the case was so outrageous, forty-four attorneys general petitioned Congress; and, that the presiding judge in the case owned a major interest in a defense firm that received a $178 million federal contract between Siegelman's indictment and trial, a massive conflict of interest.

Most revealing, before her argument against the former governor's appeal, Kagan knew or should have known the following. After two charges had been dropped in a 2009 appeal, Justice Department attorneys recommended a twenty year sentence instead of the seven years already rendered. Fewer offenses for sentencing meant thirteen additional years by the strange logic of federal justice.
Kagan knew or should have known all this and more. That didn't stop her from arguing that Don Siegelman should be kept in jail. ...

That judgment is that Elena Kagan was a willing accomplice in one of the most outrageous political prosecutions of our time. Why should anyone ever trust her?

Her nomination to the Supreme Court of the United States should be rejected unanimously.

SOURCE: http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x8614514

Sorry about the databomb, summerschild. I very much appreciate that you grok what this is about.

[summerschild]

101. No such thing as "databomb" from Octafish!

I savor every word and learn every time!

[starroute]

47. I'm more inclined to blame Karl Rove

And maybe the Dixie Mafia, if that's really a thing.

The Gulf Coast has always been a weird, piratical place. If the Mob really was involved in the Kennedy assassination, it had to do with the arc of influence that stretched from Santo Trafficante in Florida to Carlos Marcello in New Orleans, plus extensions of Marcello's influence into Texas.

Booze, drugs, gambling -- it's all part of the picture. (And part of what got Siegelman in trouble was related to Indian casinos and Jack Abramoff.)

Throw in the Project Paperclip Nazis in Huntsville and the endless money pit of the Star Wars Strategic Defense Initiative and you get a toxic brew with the potential for all sorts of mischief.

Since the old mobsters passed from the scene, nobody's had their hands on the throttle of this engine, but I think Rove saw its potential -- and also saw by the 1990s that turning the Deep South over to the Republicans would be a way of accessing all that unused power.

I don't know what the end game is intended to be. It doesn't seem that "poor and underdeveloped" is any better as a power base now than it was during the Civil War. But I do think some scheme is afoot, and driving the Democrats out of Louisiana is the latest step in it.

[yallerdawg]

6. How soon y'all forget?

Carter, Clinton, Gore?

[BlueCaliDem]

15. They came *before* the event of electing a Black man to the White House.

After 2008, as I see it, Southerners decided that all bets were off.

The election of President Obama has arguably brought out the ugly racism ever simmering just beneath the veneer of Southern congeniality and it's exploded to the forefront when that Black president got re-elected with 51% of the vote.

That has not sat well with the a-political segment of Southerners who, in retaliation, decided to cut off their noses in order to spite their pallid faces and voted, en masse, men and women, against the Democratic Party for members of the disastrous Koch Bros Party formerly known as the Republican Party.

[dixiegrrrrl]

89. Actually, it was after 1964 that all bets were off in the South.

Johnson's Civil Rights Bill in 1964 killed off the Dixiecrats.
Jonson, an extremely astute politician knew this would be a highly likely consequence.

Obama's election moved covert racism into the overt side of things, but long before he was elected Dem. power had been pretty much absent
as a rule.
I think Anne Richards was a marvelous exception...

[BlueCaliDem]

109. Anne Richards was a wonderful woman and excellent head of Texas. I still miss her.

And it's true that since the 1964 signing of the CRA we lost the Dixiecrats and the entire South to the Republican Party when the Party-switch happened. But we were still able to get giants like Bill Clinton, Jimmy Carter, and Al Gore. That's not going to happen in the foreseeable future.

Then, in the 80's, came Rupert Murdoch's propaganda machine, helped in no small part by Saint Ronnie who got favorable reporting from his Australian friend, and things have been going steadily downhill since.

Propaganda is a powerful and successful tool in order to fool and control the masses, especially when those people were raised with the belief that there has to be "truth in advertising" (a myth unless it's an item that you can sue for) and we actually did have a strong and independent Fourth Estate before the bait 'n' switch happened when mega-corporations bought them out and replaced reputable news programs with propaganda programs for the wealthy and well-connected.

The sad thing is, too many Americans still believe they can't report lies and that we have an independent news media, and that's a problem - for democracy, not for corporations and millionaires and billionaires who need to keep us divided in order to hold on to power favorable only to them and theirs.

[font color="red"]*edit to add: If my writing seems a little slow and confusing, it's because I'm tired. I need to get offline and earn my paycheck.[/font]

[Thinkingabout]

154. You are correct, the Dixiecrats swung to the Republican party maybe because of

The Civil Rights Act signed and pushed by a liberal Southern President. They also saw integration become a way of life, took their children out of schools and built private religious schools. The angry old men will be gone one of these days and hopefully the walls will come down again. If we are going to pick out the blue states and kick them out there are more than the southern states.

[DemocratSinceBirth]

45. I believe the only deep southern states Clinton carried was WV and GA in three person races.

Gore carried none.

[yallerdawg]

52. William Jefferson Clinton is from Arkansas.

Carter is from Georgia. Gore is from Tennessee.

If these aren't Sons of the newly vilified South...?

Race is not the primary issue regarding the rejection of the Democratic Party. It is so much more, and if the Democratic Party doesn't get back to representing 'the people' it won't be just the South lost.

[DemocratSinceBirth]

53. My bad...He carried Arkansas twice. /NT

[ProdigalJunkMail]

84. Yay... more divisive crap on DU n/t

[Le Taz Hot]

10. I think someone like Elizabeth Warren

could make significant headway in the south. She has the ability to cross political lines and speak to the poor and middle class. She has taken up their fight and she speaks the language. She is sincere and that comes across. That's the only thing that has a chance of appealing to at least some southerners. Hillary? Hang it up.

[LuvNewcastle]

21. I agree. Warren would most likely have more appeal

than Hillary in the South. You'd think that it would be the opposite because Hillary is more conservative, but Warren is more Populist, and Populism has deep roots in the South and West. I don't know how many southern states Warren would carry (probably not many), but I think she would have a better shot than Clinton.

[DemocratSinceBirth]

24. What southern states that Barack Obama didn't carry in one or both of his races

Which southern states that Barack Obama didn't carry in one or both of his races would Elizabeth Warren carry?

Georgia ?
South Carolina ?
Texas ?
Alabama?
Arkansas?
Mississippi ?
Louisiana ?

[Le Taz Hot]

31. I'm going to jump in here.

(This IS a discussion board.) I don't think she'll carry any southern states. Partly because of election fraud, partly because of gerrymandering and partly because it's going to take decades to undo the RWNJ zeitgeist that has taken over the South. What she will take is votes away from the Republicans and that may well translate to flip down ticket races.

[yeoman6987]

62. Gerrymandering doesn't affect Presidential races

The rest of your reply I agree with.

[Le Taz Hot]

64. Ah, yes.

You are correct. Thanks for the correction.

[arcane1]

82. Yep. Many of those self-styled conservatives are unaware of how liberal they really are.

Once you cut through the slogans and buzz words, and omit the personalities they have been trained to reject, of course.

[BlueCaliDem]

26. You're kidding, right Le Taz??

Southerners aren't stupid people. They might not be the most politically informed in the country, but they know enough to know the difference between the Republican and Democratic Party - and what they stand for: Republican Party for White People, Democratic Party for all others.

Most Southerners (I base the most on election results) reject any Party that doesn't treat dark-skinned minorities like the lower class people that these people believe they are. They know that voting Republican can jeopardize their SSI, jobs, Medicare, and Social Security checks, but they'll risk it just as long as they don't have to be in the same Party as "those" people.

A good example was a Kentucky women who was taped and tickled pink that she got Kynect and could see a doctor for the first time in her life. When the reporter told her that it was actually a Democratic Party policy and if she'd consider voting Democrat this time, she looked at the reporter as if she'd just asked her to sacrifice her first born and responded, "I'm a lifelong Republican and I will be casting my vote for Republicans." Ungrateful $@%^.

A more personal experience: my dark-skinned sister of Asian descent and my dark-skinned Puerto Rican brother-in-law live in Nolensville, TN, a very rural part of Tennessee. When I went to see her last April, I got the feeling I was not welcome the way White people there looked at me (and treated me) - but neither were my sister and her husband. It's the reason why they have to continuously tell the cashier, the waitress, and anyone else on the verge of giving them the stink-eye that they're military. Then things change for these people because if you're military - and have done something they're too chicken to do themselves - they'll find it in their prejudiced little hearts to cut you some slack.

Our White British friend from Holland had visited my sister last summer, too, and she was flabbergasted why my sister and her husband constantly told everyone and their uncle that they were Iraqi-vets, showing their credentials without even being asked. Then she realized that there were few Black people, and then she understood why my sister and her husband constantly brandished their military IDs.

There is NO WAY Elizabeth Warren will "make headwind" in the South. All her Republican opponent has to do (backed by tens of millions of dark money in advertising) is show photos of her next to President Obama and that she once worked for Obama and BOOM. She loses in a landslide.

You clearly underestimate the strong racist undercurrent on all levels within American society, Le Taz.

[Le Taz Hot]

36. And I happen to believe that there are enough

smart working-class people in the South who DO realize that things aren't going well for them under Republican domination. As I mention above, I don't expect her to "take" any Southern states, just enough votes to possibly affect down ticket races.

I don't underestimate anything. I was just in the South last year and saw what I saw and heard what I heard. I ALSO talked to several people who, in whispered tones, told me they were really liberals but dared not say that out loud. I think Warren could bring these people out, at least some of them, and she could be the central figure around which they could unite.

[BlueCaliDem]

43. Well, she didn't help Lungergan-Grimes much, so I'm not as convinced as you are.

But hope springs eternal...

[Le Taz Hot]

46. Lundergan-Grimes

wasn't going to win anyway. She couldn't overcome the Big Boys and their endless resources. As for how much Warren helped her, there's not way of knowing. Having said that, I wouldn't be surprised if she won her a few thousand votes though and those are votes that did NOT go to the Republicans.

[TheKentuckian]

143. Allison couldn't help herself. In a vain attempt to out conservative The Turtle she

boxed herself into being an even bigger phony than her opponent WHILE stepping on her voters in the process negating any possibility of a massive minority over vote and sewing disenchantment with her natural voters resulting in an epic debacle.

I was begging people to go to the polls by the end. Begging ones.

[BlueCaliDem]

150. I didn't think she ran a particularly good campaign, either. She *did* come off a bit phony, but I

would've voted for her in a heartbeat because she came across far less phony and more responsible than McConnell. I guess I don't like rewarding people for not doing their job, and McConnell didn't even try - unless, of course, his voters and supporters believe that his job is to destroy the U.S. Gov't. Then, well, he did a pretty good job there.

[Lugano]

155. When she refused to disclose if she voted for Obama,

it was lost.

People who stand with the President and his policies won. Those that ran away from the President lost.

All progressive issues won this year. People who ran away from progressive issues lost.

It's time to redo the Democratic Party, and throw out the Blue Dogs and tell them to go Republican instead of trying to pull the party to the right more....

New platform promoting progressive issues is needed.

New Progressive President that will buck the status quo and will start his/her 100 days removing every Republican bullshit he/she can WITH a new Progressive House/Senate candidates.

Incumbents can apply, but the Blue Dog policies are no more. At least on my Party. At least I will make sure of that.

Right wing fruitcakes can go whine on FAUX NEWS which should be off the air due to propaganda.

[TheKentuckian]

160. I understand and did but I was begging solid voters by the end. It wasn't not good, it was gawdawful

[Odin2005]

74. 4 out ot of 5 whites in the deep South vote Republican no matter what.

These people will never, ever, ever vote for a Dem.

[dixiegrrrrl]

96. I am trying to be optimistic about the generations coming up.

The boomer and older white folks down here ( with very rare exceptions) are hard core racists.
Hell, even my 80 y/o white Dem. neighbor casually lets racist terms fall from her lips.....refers to grown black men as "boy", for example, tho I don't think she would use the N word anymore.
Deep deep cultural ties that bind.
That and the fact most southerners really have a hard time with change.

I am hoping the younger folks, who have so much more access to different points of view, will be more aware of the need to change some ancient tenets
of the South.

[Odin2005]

100. If Reddit is any indication we Millennials are not less racist than older generations.

[Sissyk]

41. This Nolensville, Tn?

Which is really just a part of Nashville?

Population in 2012: 6,096 (94% urban, 6% rural). Population change since 2000: +96.7%
Males: 2,971 (48.7%)
Females: 3,125 (51.3%)

Median resident age: 35.1 years
Tennessee median age: 39.3 years


Estimated median household income in 2012: $99,893 (it was $69,318 in 2000)
Nolensville:
$99,893
TN:
$42,764

Estimated per capita income in 2012: $34,404

Read more: http://www.city-data.com/city/Nolensville-Tennessee.html#ixzz3LKEFkwPS

I'm right there on that map to the southwest. I hope you were able to make it to Nashville or Franklin or Murfreesboro while you were visiting. It would be very short-sighted of you to base your visit off a town of (maybe) 11,000 by now. And, who knows, you could have seen my black son, his friends of all colors, and I there on any given month. We LOVE the Amish Store in the small antique district.

[BlueCaliDem]

63. I've been to Nolensville and Murfreesboro (my sister had bought her first house in Murfreesboro)

but I saw precious few Black people there - until I traveled to Memphis and visited Elvis Presley's estate (my husband's childhood dream) and Beale street (don't drink but it was nice to see people dancing in the streets and having enormous fun - Black, White, Latino all together, mostly tourists, though). Yes, there are many Blacks and Latinos in Nashville - loved the Parthenon. Awe-inspiring. Loved the Jack Daniels distillery in Lynchburg, too. The unique and awesome Gaylord Opryland is breathtakingly beautiful.

In Memphis I found many Black people (and the Peabody ducks ), but, as I've already said above, precious few in Murfreesboro and Nolensville. But no matter where we were, excepting Memphis and Nashville, we were stared after as if we were some rarity.

[Sissyk]

120. I'm sorry about that.

Now, Lynchburg? I have a black son. We don't go there. The distillery is fine but wouldn't want to be caught in that town after dark. I truly know there are racist pockets in Tn, as in every state.

Any of the other cities you spoke of, we are there often and never have a problem being looked at, talked down to, or anything. Even if I'm not standing there by my son, it's a habit to keep an eye on him and those cities I don't have to worry.

Shoot me a pm if you are ever back in the area.

[BlueCaliDem]

126. Thank you, Sissyk. You're very kind.

According to my sister, Lynchburg has a nice and quaint little town, but we didn't have any time to visit. But I'll take your word for it.

The Jack Daniels distillery was amazing, though. I wish I could've bought one of those barrels for my home in SoCal, but it would have looked strange seeing this Asian lady lugging that thing along. I never knew they used the wood for the barrels from trees around the distillery and they only use those barrels once. A lot of people buy them for potted plants and lawn decorations. I wish I could've gotten me one.

And thank you so much for the kind invite. Don't be surprised that I take you up on it. We plan to visit her again next year in May or so when they finish with building her dream house. They had promised her it would be done at the end of January, but you know how that goes! It's going to be a beautiful 3900 square foot home, custom built, and she's extremely excited to have us over when it's done, so we will definitely be out that way again. It would be nice to meet you so I'll bookmark your post should we lose sight of each other on DU between now and then. Then I'll have it safely tucked in my DU bookmarks for easy look-up.

[Sissyk]

131. We also have a few of those barrels! haha

We use two of them outside as trash cans (we have many parties around the pool). Hubby "beefed" up the inside to hold a metal trashcan that is flush with the top. They are so cool and we get comments on them all the time. Another, he added a glass top for an outdoor table.

That does sound like a dream house! Er, home! Please mark and let's talk when you make plans for a trip. I'm really only 15 minutes away on a heavy traffic day!

Good talking with you, BlueCaliDem!

[Scootaloo]

129. So fuck it, let's try to get David Duke back in the party, right?

I mean that's the obvious end game of your post. That we need to field democrats like Duke, like George Wallace and Bull Connor, like Strom Thurmond, and like that new guy in LA, William Waymire, just to "win" in the south? And of course to attract these typoes, that means skewing our platform across the nation.

But after all, Winning Is Everything, right?

No. here's what you do. You find a fucking liberal. You fund them and you support them and you have them take the offensive as a liberal. Sell the philosophy. Attack the notion that liberalism is "bad," something to avoid or discard. be bold, be aggressive. Will this candidate win? Maybe not. Run enough of them, and some certainly will. And each election cycle, we have these liberal waves smacking into that concrete wall of reactionary anti-liberalism, breaking it up and eroding it.

Retaking the south requires a long-term strategy. Filing the numbers off a republican to appeal to the worst aspects the south has to offer is a short-term, failing solution.

[Erich Bloodaxe BSN]

39. Yup.

Write off the Republican officeholders, not the voters.

[CTyankee]

130. I'm really not convinced that EW could make inroads for us in the South.

IMO, it God, Guns and Gays that really resonate today in the South among whites. And wait til you see how the GOP will paint her. Harvard professor will not play well. Ultra liberal on the social issues. And she's female and that is a disqualification right there. They won't trust her to be on "their side" or what THEY perceive is their side. After all, she's on the record with actual VOTES in the Senate.While their opposition won't have the racist tinge that they put on Obama but I can't believe Warren's populism will stand a chance in the South with politics today being what it is.

[Cali_Democrat]

149. Perhaps you're right

I will say this...Elizabeth Warren definitely has the right skin color.

If a black candidate came along said the exact same things she says, the black candidate wouldn't stand a chance in the South.

Many white southerners just hate black people and will never vote for one

Period.

[Cha]

11. Michael Tomasky is dead on with this description.. Mahalo Don..

"Practically the whole region has rejected nearly everything that’s good about this country and has become just one big nuclear waste site of choleric, and extremely racialized, resentment."

I feel bad for the Dems down in Dixie.. There's a lot of good going on but the brainwashing is complete for the majority.. who are only too happy to make lives better for Billionaires.

[steve2470]

17. I think Florida is ok, purplish very slowly going blue nt

[aikoaiko]

12. I'm sure that will drive some traffic to the beast

[mmonk]

13. Roosevelt and John Kennedy won much of Dixie.

Are you sure that should be the strategy or run people like them for office instead of conservadems?

[Le Taz Hot]

27. That was before the Civil Rights Act was passed and

Nixon's Southern Strategy that followed. Also, neither Roosevelt nor John Kennedy wanted to touch Civil Rights. Roosevelt because it wasn't in the forefront (yet) and Kennedy because he didn't want to lose votes from the South in '64.

[former9thward]

33. Both Roosevelt and JFK were allied with southern segregationists.

FDR especially. Those were far different times.

[mmonk]

44. Are you saying the economic ideas wouldn't

[Odin2005]

76. That was before the Civil Rights Act and Nixon's Southern Strategy.

Before 1964 the Dems in the South were the party of segregation and Neo-Confederate Revanchism.

[DemocratSinceBirth]

18. Maybe benign neglect is appropriate

It's not as if the party invests a lot of resources there in any case.

[derby378]

19. Tomasky is either stoned or an idiot

Abraham Lincoln was reluctantly willing to let the South go, too. Guess how that worked out?

This also reminds me of what happened in Texas. The general feeling of Democratic strategists down here was "court women, court gays, court Hispanics most of all, but don't bother courting white men, because we don't need them." Judging by the election results across the state - well, yeah, turns out they did need them after all.

Dems have to coalesce around certain values and goals, yes, but without devolving into another game of No True Scotsman.

[CTyankee]

132. The problem is with some southern women that they will back what their husbands or fathers

or other women will tell them. The progressive white Southern woman who is open about it is a rara avis indeed. The white southern woman may not hate their black sisters but they dare not stand with her for fear of ridicule and maybe even contempt for her for not being "true" to her heritage (whatever that is). Peer pressure is tough to go against.

I say that as a white woman who grew up in Texas, living under legal segregation. I was told "all your people are Southern people" as indeed they were. How did we get to Texas? The Civil War is why, way back then. Many Texans today are descendants of those Georgians like my family who were unfortunately in the path of Sherman's march to the sea and saw their farms ravaged and caused their departure. They settled in northeast Texas.

Mercifully, the old is dying out. I am hopeful that we'll get SOME of the younger and better educated Southerners in our party. But I think it will be a while before it comes to pass. More is the pity.

[derby378]

133. Despite my opposition to our state's new Voter ID law...

...posts like yours just might convince me to serve as an election judge once again. We're the last line of defense for the privacy and sanctity of the vote. And we can send husbands and wives to opposite corners of the room in order to vote. Even in southern states.

[CTyankee]

140. Good. I hope you do!

Even here in CT, it is no accident that I wound up in one of the most liberal neighborhoods here in the People's Rebublic of New Haven! Not too far away is East Haven, a nest of RW whites who hate on blacks and liberals big time. We have a liberal Dem friend who lives there and it is hell for him sometimes. The election of Obama sure didn't help!

[JaneyVee]

20. BUUUUUUUULSHIT.

[beerandjesus]

95. Couldn't have said it better!

[Tuesday Afternoon]

116. Yep. What a load of Crap.

[hatrack]

22. I think he nailed it; put serious resources into VA, NC, FL; not ad buys, but local races & networks

As for the rest . . . maybe in another 20 years.

[LeftInTX]

110. Local races still matter - even in Texas

We've got some solid blue congressional districts.
Also local city politics where I live is fairly blue.

We've also got purple districts that change hands every few years.

[derby378]

139. We don't have 20 years to wait

I could be dead in 20 years, and dammit, I want payback for sitting through the eight years of terror that were the Bush 43 administration.

We need to resurrect the 50-state strategy. Without it, our party is dead.

[Rex]

25. Well the author is right about one thing, we need to dump dixiecrats from the party totally.

Seems they still exist and like to stir up shit. Also this group of economic libertarians needs to go to, both groups have already caused a huge amount of hardship to the people, the party and the nation.

[RationalMan]

35. I don't believe in giving up.......

Trust me, the Republicans will not stop their attempts in blue states. They will not walk away from a contest easily.

As a Democrat living in Georgia, it would be foolish to write off the entire South. The polling in Georgia for both the governor and U.S. Senate races was close. The fact the election results were so different was people who were polled didn't bother to vote.

Georgia demographics are making this state much more competitive, at least in state-wide races. The General Assembly, as in many other Republican-controlled states, has so gerry-mandered the Congressional districts that it will take a significant amount of time to ensure Congressional representation is in fact reflective of the voters. But for state-wide races such as the governership and Senate, Georgia will become increasingly purple. We need those two Georgia Senate seats to offset and fight the right. We need a Democratic governor in Georgia to rein in the antics of the state legislature.

[cordelia]

38. Thanks. We haven't had a South bashing thread in what, 15 or 20 minutes?

The author of this piece isn't helping Democrats. At all.

[steve2470]

40. +1 nt

[Yo_Mama]

58. Yeah - Mark Twain. n/t

[Glassunion]

91. +1000

The article is a pile of shit. A giant one.

[jeff47]

48. More like, "Don't try to win Dixie by being Republican-lite"

"Because it doesn't work." Unfortunately, "Republican-lite" is all we've tried in the South for quite a long time now. It works occasionally, which lets the fans of this strategy keep pushing it.

What would work far better is populism....you know, one of the major ways we used to win in the South.

[Maineman]

66. Exactly.

[CTyankee]

136. The Democratic Party today is vastly different in the South from what it was back when

"we" won. I agree with the poster who said the Civil Rights Act changed it all. The repubs are riding high in the South now. We can win in some of the major cities and with the better educated but I don't see much chance, given how racialized politics has become in this country (and not just in the South). Nasty stuff.

[bravenak]

50. I am sad for my Southern Dem brothers and Sisters.

We need to give them better candidates and support. Good policy with a Dem face behind it. Minimum wage raises backed my Dem put in ballots. Rather than write off loyal Democratic voters, why not help them increase their numbers?
I have never been to the south but I hear it is lovely and I have family down that way. Most black folks I know got people down there. Pretty sure I'm related to many poor whites in Kentucky and Virginia too. Let's not leave our family to suffer alone. We can do better than that.

And you know what, I want to help the racists too. They have children who need to eat and have proper education. We need to help the south break the cycle of poverty and bigotry, rather than just blame and reflect their hatred back onto them. Magnanimity is like the honey that helps the medicine go down.

My favorite racists are from the south. They tell you to your face. I know where I stand with them.
Besides, I live in a red state and I don't want you all to give up on mine next. We can win that House seat next time. Don Young got less of the vote than last time . A 27 year old man got about 40 percent of the vote. A millennial. Don is 82. If the young man runs against him next time.... We can snatch it.

[Bettie]

51. Or maybe we need to move back toward

a 50 state strategy, never give an inch.

[yellowcanine]

54. No it is time to run as real Democrats in Dixie to turn out Dem voters and like minded independents.

Seriously, I do think Landrieu would have been a lot better off running as a real Democrat. She would have been more likely to avoid a runoff, for example, by getting a much better turnout of Dem voters in November.

[hollowdweller]

55. Disagree

I think the dems should double down in dixie.

While I don't think you will ever win the white vote in the South. The Republicans have had incredible success with racial resentment that the South may not recover from for years.

However black and latino voters could be mobilized along with some college educated whites.

But even more if you totally abandon the south then there's NO chance of winning there even if is a change.

[steve2470]

56. very bad idea

http://www.democraticunderground.com/10025928022

[Yo_Mama]

57. What about all the Dems who live in the south?

I don't think any party can afford to "write off" a chunk of states, nor do I think the Dems need to do this.

[packman]

59. The South is a drag on a progressive nation

it eats up more than it contributes with more being returned to it in welfare than it pays out in taxes. It harbors some of the worst schools as shown in study after study. Has the worst health issues as a group than any other section of the country. The South is a breeding ground for religious insanity on an industrial scale and is proud of its anti-intellectual approach to science and life.
Let them rot in their own festering history and bias and let the rest of America move forward.

[yallerdawg]

65. A progressive nation?

What progressive legislation have we had from the Democratic Party in the last 6 years?

Let me mention Southerners are well aware of Medicaid and Medicare -- if the Heritage Foundation Romneycare health insurance mandate legislation is progressive, we could have gotten that electing Romney!

[kentauros]

71. And it appears by your words

that you simply do not understand the concept of a United States of America.

So, let me simplify it further for you, because it does appear to be a difficult concept to grasp:

[font size="5"]We're all in this together.[/font]

We don't weigh which parts of the country are "better" than the others as to who gets to "stay" and who gets booted out. It's not a contest. It's a country, in whole, not in part. You take the "good" with the "bad" whether you like it or not.

And if you still don't like that, then why not, as a typical, and compassionate, Liberal, offer to help them out of the "bad"?

Or is that too difficult?

[CTyankee]

144. In all fairness, tho, WHO is rejecting the concept of a United States?

The South has done so (QED) in the past and is doing it to some degree NOW.

I don't think progressives are the problem here. Progressive policies enacted on the federal level have HELPED the South enormously. You can't blame some of us for getting pissed off at people who vote against their, and our, own best interests and then take the benefits and trash US. At the end of the day, it is they who must make the decision to join the progressives in helping to continue policies that they themselves want and need. To reject a party that has brought them so much is a bitter pill to swallow indeed.

[Maineman]

75. Fits my stereotype, BUT...

"The South is a breeding ground for religious insanity on an industrial scale and is proud of its anti-intellectual approach to science and life."

This fits my stereotype, but not all southerners are like that. How can we support reasonable southerners without aiding and abetting stupidity? How about standing up for Democratic values rather than the Republican-lite BS? Speak people oriented values rather than politics and religion.

[daleanime]

60. Why do I even need to say it.....

we can't write anyone or any place off. There's too much work to do, we need everybody we can get our hands on.

[JEFF9K]

61. Great article.

But we shouldn't write-off Congressional seats in the South.

[Odin2005]

67. We have the Blue Wall and they do not.

We at minimum are guaranteed 254 EVs as long as Blue State pukes don't do any hanky-panky with the electoral votes.

The Deep South can go fuck itself, all I care.

[cordelia]

94. That would be the millions of African American Democrats that live here as well.

Correct?

[Odin2005]

99. Unfortunately As long as 4 out of 5 whites vote Puke down there...

the black vote isn't going to do much.

If I had God-like powers I would teleport Southern Blacks and liberal whites out of the Deep south in order to get them out of there.

[ColesCountyDem]

68. As long as there's even ONE Democrat in Dixie, I'm not writing them off!

I don't believe in surrender!

[aikoaiko]

70. That's a really stupid thing to do for two reasons

1. There are a lot of blue states that are within 10% on the presidential election.

2. There are a lot red states that are within 10% on the presidential election.

http://www.fec.gov/pubrec/fe2012/federalelections2012.pdf

From a practical point of view, the political landscape now is not the political landscape for tomorrow.

From a principled point of view, Democrats need to lead all of the US, and not just the non-southern ones.

[steve2470]

73. +1 nt

[Ink Man]

72. It's the economy stupid.

Job growth is in the South and energy is the industry leading the way. Young people looking for jobs are moving from the north blue states to the south red states. My New York family are now in Tenn, Florida, Louisiana and SC. They own their first house and have money in the bank. They see a young and growing community of middle class people unlike Long Island and Bay Ridge community they grew up in.

Most of you make fun the the south with their God, guns and simple ways. America is moving to the right and the south is the proof.

With Landrieu’s departure, the Democrats will have no more senators from the Deep South, and I say good. Forget about it. Forget about the whole fetid place. Write it off. Let the GOP have it and run it and turn it into Free-Market Jesus Paradise. The Democrats don’t need it anyway.

[Blue_Adept]

79. Having looked at Landrieu's exit polling from November...

It's very easy to get behind this article since there's a lot of basic truth to it.

It's not about running more progressive candidates or no republican-lite candidates.

There are things that the Democratic party is about that a large number of the voting population there will NOT vote for. Gay marriage is one of the bigger pieces at the moment. There's a whole lot more and a lot of it is very foundational in political belief, i.e. how much the government should be involved in things.

Focus locally where you can - especially in town level politics and as much state level as you can - but minimal investment state-wide/national for the area for awhile to build up elsewhere and make progress and shining examples in other states.

There's only so long you keep putting your foot in the woodchuck machine before you decide to stand somewhere else and do something positive.

[KamaAina]

81. Extra butter on mine, please.

[TBF]

85. IKR, starting early this morning ... nt

[heaven05]

86. Per your title

1.5 millions registered as Democrats in Landrieu's state, 729,000 registered at Republican voters. If Democrats had voted their ticket, last election, perhaps we wouldn't be having the 'outrage' noted below in some responses. Now the question I ask is: Why didn't the Louisiana democrats vote?

[Z_California]

88. I have hope for the future of the south

Let's just start with Texas and work our way east. Demographics are changing.

[paulkienitz]

92. Dixie is getting a little more urban and blue every year. Fifty state strategy!

These people are our fellow citizens and don't deserve to be abandoned.

[LeftInTX]

93. The South is 25.7% of the population and unfortunately growing

[cordelia]

111. Unfortunately? I'm sure all the African-Americans moving back to the South

will appreciate your sentiment.

[LeftInTX]

119. By unfortunately, I mean you can't write off the South.

As it is a difficult area for Dems.

Texas is only 44% white.
50.8% comprise of: 38.4 %-Hispanic 12.4%-African-American

Even with those demographics we lost statewide elections miserably. You would think we would do better. My grown kids and husband are Mexican-American which is the largest growing segment in Texas. The last election in Texas tried to reach out to that group but failed.

It's good to know that AAs are moving back to the South.

[cordelia]

122. Thanks, and I apologize if there was misunderstanding.

It's disheartening. I live in a blue area - repubs don't even run a candidate in some local races.

I was born/raised as a Democrat in the 60s, lived all over, and am back.

Hopefully, with demographics changing the South will lean back to the left.

Take care.

[LeftInTX]

124. No problem

Yes, it is disheartening

[Gothmog]

97. As a Democrat living in Texas, I am not willing to give up

2014 was a horrible year for Texas democrats but we are not going to give up. Demographic trends are not good for the GOP over the long run and at some point Hispanic voters in Texas will start voting. I am kind of hoping that Lt. Governor Dan Patrick will be the Texas equivalent of Pete Wilson and that his stupidity and racism will wake up Texas Hispanic voters. California used to be a purple state until Pete Wilson alienated Hispanic voters. The same can happen in the south

[LeftInTX]

115. A possible hope

Hispanics can be kinda conservative,(think Bush) but they can't stand outright ignorant racism.

[mahatmakanejeeves]

102. Why, bless their hearts.

I'm referring to Michael Tomasky and the Daily Beast.

[steve2470]

137. Just bless their lil ol' peapickin' hearts!

*fetches mah Mint Julep from the porch rail*

[kentuck]

103. No. I don't think so.

Instead, use it as a testing ground for progressive candidates and progressive messages. Don't expect to win but let them know what our Party stands for.

[Glassunion]

105. Fuck that...

I'm sick of the south bashing. This article reads like a petulant child's tantrum.

[mgardener54]

106. Democrats did vote

By staying home.
Just because somebody has a D after their name does not make them a viable candidate.
I would never vote for a republican, but I would be tempted to stay home if the D, stunk to high heaven!

And I do not think we should abandon the South. We need good candidates that give people choices.

[NoJusticeNoPeace]

107. Some of the worst episodes of racism historically and recently are from California

I dont understand why people vote the way they do, it is very disturbing.

But I dont want to cut off the life line to a group of people no matter where they are.

[A Simple Game]

108. Shame on you, maybe the Democratic party doesn't need the south but

the south needs the Democratic party. Well more like they need what the Democratic party used to be.

You know who else the Democratic party didn't need? Me, they took a sharp right turn and left me 20 years ago, and almost got me back when Dr. Dean was in charge, but they couldn't understand his 50 state philosophy so left him also.

So just how many do you think the party can abandon before it hurts? I think they are in deep pain already.

[mnhtnbb]

112. No, it's time for a return to the 50 state strategy of Howard Dean.

Those of us liberals living in the south--especially in the once purple states and the blue
enclaves of states that have turned red--are not ready to give up.

What would have happened to civil rights in the 60's if people had given up?

[steve2470]

134. +1 nt

[Lolita46]

113. Good idea.

Should do it.

[MisterP]

114. prima facie the thesis is crap, but we definitely can't let ourselves be lashed to the likes of

Landrieu and Roorda and Manchin à la Ahab just because "waaah, we NEED to run conservatives in the South because they won't win otherwise": that sounds reasonable, but it just leaves the country with either a losing conservadem or a winner who derelicts their duty so hard Nancy Grace complains, or who brings night to the Cumberlands again (this is the trap Joe Bageant would fall into)

the party officialdom and its dancing poodles can't ever admit that a conservadem CAN even lose! they're wedded to saying that we have to follow, rather than lead the voters, but this is only rhetorical: even if shallowly, 70-90% of Americans want gun control, peace, HSR, cheap education, reasonable tariffs, green energy research and adoption, and a real economy rather than one suspended by flatulence à la the Brothers Grunt; the national leadership says we can't "push ideology" on the "vast moderate middle" of the country but at the same time they don't listen to anything they want or need: it's the perfect political machine, where the poor are obligated to provide the votes but the rich are the ones getting all the kickbacks

the Southern Strategy definitely has put many whites and middle class off-limits to any sort of Dem party that deserves to survive; there's an economistic move to downplay social justice in favor of economic issues, but they're not opposed--after all, who's the more socially-liberal? neoliberal Rahm or radical Sawant?

[Orsino]

117. Dumbass article. Waste of time. n/t

[alarimer]

118. End gerrymandering and get money out of politics

The Republicans have more seats in the South, yes, that much is true. BUT ONLY BECAUSE THEY CHEAT! They have rigged the system with illegal gerrymandering and voter suppression efforts. And, probably most importantly, we need campaign finance reforms. The Koch brothers and Art Pope have literally purchased elections. So those two items will help a lot to ensure that we don't write off an entire region.

Republicans have more seats, but in every election, the vote totals actually favor Democrats. Because of the aforementioned cheating and election fraud. Democrats are concentrated in fewer districts (true on both state and federal levels) because of gerrymandering.

The solution is to have an impartial or bipartisan panel do the redistricting; do not leave it up to state legislatures.

[Luminous Animal]

123. What remarkably ignorant drivel. I regret I read the entire fetid piece.

[Scootaloo]

127. Retreat! Retreat! Retreat!

[Cali_Democrat]

151. Better idea:

Lets appeal to a bunch of people who hate blacks, muslims and hispanics.

[Scootaloo]

159. or we can atually run liberals.

Wild idea, i understand

[gollygee]

135. I know people in Michigan just as bad

There might be a difference between what percentage of people in the south and north are like that, but they are in the north as well, and we're also in the south.

[CTyankee]

146. but what is the outcome? That is what matters, right?

There are racists everywhere...

[HereSince1628]

138. Ya know...it's gad-damned hard to commit the lives of innocents to brutality

How do you say to the children, your state wasn't worth the effort???????????????????????????????????

[Hekate]

145. How about we don't leave anybody behind? How about the 50-state strategy? How about we don't cave?

[CTyankee]

147. WE are not the ones that have left people behind.

WE have made the effort. WE have tried with all of our arguments of populism, of income inequality, of the rights of women and minorities as being an American and patriotic idea. But WE have not sold our product, so to speak. When not enough people actually BUY your product, it can't sell. That's the problem.

[Derek V]

148. I'll.....help them pack!

[merrily]

152. If we dump Dixie, we better importune supernatural forces to see that the California

movement to apportion electoral votes fails. We were okay after we lost Texas only because California went from solid red in Presidentials to solid blue.

Besides, I think, as people continue to move away from homophobia, from interfering with individual reproductive choice and from , we will indeed be able to gain Southern votes.

Leave being a regional party to the Republicans.

[MFrohike]

153. Cool

Last I checked, writing off an entire region worked out great for the Whigs.

[hrmjustin]

156. Dumping an entire region of the nation would be dumb. n/t

[PeteSelman]

157. Can you really dump people that have dumped you first?

The only problem with letting the South turn into GTA (a true libertarian paradise) is that the rest of us will have to pick up the tab when their people are starving to death.

[Tsiyu]

158. I feel that way as well

There are wonderful, kind, good people here, but they just don't want anyone but White Christians in charge, no matter how corrupt, greedy or criminal.

There are small pockets of liberals, but overall, people are apathetic toward politics unless FOXNoos tells them to care about something.

And these aren't rural poor, these are subdivision dwellers and soccer moms and IT dads.

Once I get out, I really don't care if the South implodes. Refusing to grow up and take responsibility for yourself is exactly what the South is doing. Sucking from the Federal government teat while kicking the same government in the teeth.

Refusing to see that Southern citizens have adequate health care. Bloating the prison system so White Christian men and their avaricious wives and children can make bank off petty crime AND disenfranchise young people all in one fell swoop.

It's a cesspool of ignorance and they like it. So let them wallow in it.