The futility of the Deep South Democrat

[DonViejo]

Mark Sanford was probably never beatable, and the reason dates back about 50 years

BY STEVE KORNACKI

There was a certain futility to Elizabeth Colbert Busch’s congressional campaign, one that had nothing to do with her and everything to do with the state and region she calls home.

When a poll a few weeks ago put her ahead of former Governor Mark Sanford by nine points in South Carolina’s 1st District special election, Democrats perked up at the prospect of an unlikely victory in the heart of Dixie. But there was reason to be skeptical of that poll, and when the votes were tallied Tuesday night reality asserted itself quickly, with Sanford posting a relatively easy 54-45 percent win.

In hindsight, no one should be surprised. There’s plenty of chatter this morning about supposed turning points in the race, dramatic moments when Sanford snatched the momentum from his Democratic opponent and won over reluctant swing voters. But who knows if Sanford was ever really trailing by that much in the first place? More likely, the SC-1 special election is simply the latest example of white voters in the South – and particularly the Deep South – doing what they almost always do these days: vote Republican.

This is the story of modern southern politics. From the end of Reconstruction through the civil rights revolution, the South was an almost uniformly Democratic region. In 1936, for example, Franklin Roosevelt won more than 98 percent of the vote in South Carolina. Race wasn’t the only reason for the South’s shift toward the GOP, but it was the biggest single driver. In 1948, northern liberals inserted a civil rights plank into the national Democratic platform, prompting a walkout of southern delegations – which then coalesced around the third party Dixiecrat candidacy of Strom Thurmond. An uneasy truce between national and southern Democrats was reached after that election, but it was untenable. When LBJ signed the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the modern southern GOP was born. Nationally, LBJ crushed Barry Goldwater in the fall of ’64, racking up more than 60 percent of the popular vote. But Goldwater carried five southern states – winning 59 percent in South Carolina, 69 percent in Alabama and 87 percent in Mississippi.

full article
http://www.salon.com/2013/05/08/the_futility_of_the_deep_south_democrat/

[onehandle]

1. Tick tock. Tick tock. Tick tock.

Census: Whites no longer a majority in U.S. by 2043

http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-201_162-57558742/census-whites-no-longer-a-majority-in-u.s-by-2043

[geek tragedy]

3. That's the nation, not the south. nt

[onehandle]

4. The South is getting 'browner' much faster than the North.

Some Southern states will experience this phenomena sooner than 2043.

[geek tragedy]

5. Virginia already is, hence it being a purple state.

But, the crazy fucksticks down there will have several decades to do damage to their own citizens and the nation until demographics turns the tide.

[Proud Liberal Dem]

2. I think that she probably did pretty well all things considered

Had he not been such a *damaged* candidate, he probably would have won by a much bigger margin. This was considered a pretty solid Republican district as well. 40%+ isn't quite so bad all things considered IMHO. Also, Sanford will, I believe, be up for re-election in a relatively short amount of time (Nov. 2014) and there's time for him to damage himself further and leave another opening for Elizabeth to make another shot at the seat (if she wants to try again, of course).

[John2]

7. I wouldn't try

again. It is a waste of money and time. Until people got some reason to move to South Carolina, that is when it will change. Virginia and North Carolina use to be solid Red. The reason North Carolina is a swing state now is because of population growth. As long as North Carolina continue to grow in population, some of that could spill over into South Carolina. That is why I don't think South Carolina or even States in rural areas of the country will remain Red. The more this country becomes diverse with people escaping crowded areas because of that population growth, the more regional ideology will change.

You see the citizens of South Carolina ( specifically whites) against immigration and wanting to close off the borders to people don't look like them. This country fought a bloody Civil War which ended in 1865 and the Death of a President. You had over 600,000 people that died in that War. They fought over slavery and the idea a certain group of people was inferior because of skin color. All those people are dead now, but I wonder what they would think about a Black man having Lincoln's job and being the President of the United States on both sides. This also applies to those who enforced Jim Crow laws and fought against the Civil Rights Act of 1965. I don't remember when Thurmond died, but I wonder if he lived long enough to see a Black man become President.

The bottomline is no matter how much you fight for the status quo, you cannot stop Destiny. That was the insight President Lincoln had. He said it as much. He had no control over events. All he could do was help it along. The fact that he did not know a Black man could be President of the United States as his equal today, proves men are equal given the same opportunities. Oppressing people who don't look like you is a losing proposition. You just as well look at them as equals for the betterment of All. I think the children of those who lost that War, still are clinging to a Lost Cause. They need to leave it in a Museum and the History Books, because their heritage is the United States, and not the Confederacy of their Ancestors.

[Hosnon]

6. A congressional district right over the Savannah river in GA is held be a Democrat. nt.