How should Democrats approach the South in '04?

[Gringo]

How far should the Democrats go in appealing to (pandering to?) the South in '04?

[demnan]

1. I would say a combination of all four

It would be helpful but not necessary to have a Southerner on the ticket. There are a lot of working class and minorities in the South and they aren't financially doing well, appeal to their basic pocketbook issues - jobs, education, health care.

De-emphasize aspects that tend to alienate southerners, gun control, alternative life styles, choice (I'm not saying I agree, just that this would be an effective approach).

Don't kow-tow on such issues as Confederate flags, Christian colollisions, etc. Southerners will smell a rat.

[CBHagman]

2. One is best, but...

...I have several areas on which we must focus: voter registration and turnout, never taking the our base for granted, and grass-roots efforts to reach the working-class and middle-class Southerners of all races. They have to be reminded that affordable health care, a living wage, an economically stable retirement and adequate school funding are their issues, too.

[Scoopie]

7. Southerners

As a Southerner, I voted for No. 1.
There are certain aspects to being Southern that aren't traditionally addressed by more liberal democrats, but the brass tax isn't just down to weaponry, religion and welfare reform.
The South probably has been bitten harder during the Bush Administration than any other region: we have more military people per capita and these people - our loved ones - have been sent to fight, get injured and die for what we now know - no more speculation - was/is an unjust war. Southerners, even those who traditionally would support Republican candidates, are breaking away and, gulp, even writing letters to the editor stating Bush no longer has their support!
And, while we haven't lost nearly the number of manufacturing jobs the rest of the country relied on, we weren't on equal footing in the "good-paying jobs" category to begin with. The lousy economy bored into us slowly and deeply.
So maybe, just maybe, my fellow Southerners will "return home" from that Republican perch we followed in 2000 (that doesn't include me - I voted for Gore) and realize what's good for the South is good for the rest of the country.

[ulysses]

9. one thought

...and realize what's good for the South is good for the rest of the country.

I'd like to see a candidate who'll take on southern sectarianism directly - point out the smallness of the economic world and make the point that the south is affected by globalization as much as, and in some ways more than, any other region.

None of those who are likely to win will do this, of course.

[newyawker99]

18. Hi Scoopie!!

Welcome to DU!! :toast:

[JackDragna]

3. Let the South rot.

The dynamic here has changed drastically. The South has become vehemently more right-wing since 9/11. Every effort spent here by the Democrats is an effort wasted. We should focus on the upper midwest (Ohio, Michigan, Illinois and Indiana) and solidify the northeast, because every state south of Virginia and east of Texas is out of play. Bank on it.

[Padraig18]

5. Don't waste too much effort in IL

The Repukes are toast here. SOLID "D" in '04. :thumbsup:

[HereSince1628]

11. Illinois is south?

My family is from southern Illinois, and although its rural with associated issues, I don't think they would say their southern. I know that one of my great grandfathers, from rural Perry Co. fought in the unpleasantness between the states wearing Union blue.

[Scoopie]

10. Drop dead South? Hmmmm....

Jack Dragna wrote, The dynamic here has changed drastically. The South has become vehemently more right-wing since 9/11. Every effort spent here by the Democrats is an effort wasted. We should focus on the upper midwest (Ohio, Michigan, Illinois and Indiana) and solidify the northeast, because every state south of Virginia and east of Texas is out of play. Bank on it.

Hmmm.... I don't know where you live, but I live in the second-most Republican voting district in the country - East Tennessee - and here's what my Republican neighbors are saying about Bush:
http://www.knoxnews.com/kns/letters_to_editor/article/0,1406,KNS_363_2300967,00.html
Doesn't sound like a right-wing haven to me.
We've lost too many people in the is ignorant war; we've lost too many jobs. Just because Rush Limbaugh can't get his head out of a pill bottle long enough to see what Bush has done to the country doesn't mean Southerners can't.
Now - if Dean is the nominee - I'll take your bank. The South won't vote for him. Clark, however, will drop-kick Bush back to Crawford.

[Dob Bole]

13. I live in one of the safest places for Dems in the country...

Southwest Georgia. 58% black, Jimmy Carter smackdab in the middle of my congressional district. Your presuppositions that the South should rot, are, quite frankly, not substantiated.

Check out these electoral maps:
http://pava.purdue.edu/pol101/Text/BOOK/Screens/scr3-5.html

Democrats have always won states in the southeast, the exception being 2 landslides, in which Democrats won no states from the West or Midwest either. It has the highest regional percentage of minorities in the country, and even the white people are traditionally Democrats. Southern Democrats voted for Bush in 2000 because he claimed to be a "compassionate conservative," which most people now know to be a crock.

But if you insist, with your great political science knowledge, that we forget about the South, then by all means. Super political strategy.

[sleipnir]

4. I hate this stuff

I really don't like how our country is still so devisive. The regional factions are destorying our political process and I for one am sick of how the Rupugs were able to re-gain control of the South. I don't think we should pander to Southerners, but we need to address and support some issues. Sadly, the regional factioning is becoming more and more apparent each election cycle. Candidates are unable to support all of the important regional issues, like Ethanol in the Blue Midwest, Enviro-protection in the West, etc. I wonder how much longer we can keep the Union together with at least 4 or 5 significant regional factions that divide us: The Northeast, The South, The Blue Midwest, The Red Midwest, and West Coast.

[9119495]

8. Sectionalism is nothing new

It existed prior to the civil war, during, after (Reconstruction). It doomed the Populist movement of the late 1800s and frustrated attempts at a national farmer-labor party. Progressivism divided the nation, as did Civil Rights. Only during the New Deal and Reagan (gag!) does there seem to have been general cross-regional agreement on who should rule. We are seeing more of the same trend.

Keep in mind, its the electoral votes that matter. No Democratic add should run in an Alabama media market unless a local house race is winnable.

[ulysses]

6. #1

No reason the south should get any more, or any less, consideration than any other region in the country. It's time to quit campaigning against Nixon.

[Snellius]

12. Emphasize how Bush economy is ruining the South especially

The current recession and jobless recovery has hurt the South more than any other part of the country.

[Dob Bole]

14. 1 and 5 are the only ones that Southerners care about

Strategies like encouraging restriction of gun control and picking a Southern VP are so off the mark they aren't even funny. Hmm..wasn't Gore a Southerner on a ticket? Then there must be something more:

1)Jobs
2)Respect
3)Your sons and daughters in the military
4)Jobs

Unfortunately I can't count higher than that, because I live in the South and am apparently quite stupid.

There is your strategy for 2004, ladies and gentlemen. It's the economy, stupid.

[izzie]

15. Tell them they can have their own police state and Bush will head it.

Ashcroft will be vice. They will love it. Bible and gun in every pew.

[Bake]

16. The economic message will resonate in the South

And I think the "Bush Lied And Our Soldiers Died -- And Are Still Dying" argument will hit home here.

People, the South is not so different from the rest of the country. We are, by and large, Americans FIRST. We've got some wingnuts --- OK, we've got a LOT of wingnuts -- but these themes will work here. Just don't come down South and talk down to us. But don't ignore us either.

For those who may think all Southerners are stupid, brainless rednecks, I have only one thing to say: We don't keep tigers and crocodiles IN OUR DAMN APARTMENTS like SOME people do!!

Bake

[no name no slogan]

17. How about "stop pandering to straight white men"?

No Democrat has won a presidential election with the majority of the white male vote since 1948. The gun-totin, bible-thumpin, America-love-it-or-leave-it "bubba" vote is pretty safe with the Rethugs. Why should we sell out our values as a party to appeal to unreconstructed racists and bigots? Do we really want to be the party that appeals to them?

We STILL have a lot of strength among white women and racial/cultural minorities, which are becoming a real power in the "new" south. Also, if we stick to our bread-and-butter issues of the economy, even Bubba may come round and vote our way, especially if he's been outta work for a year and a half and burned thru his unemployment and savings.

IMHO, I think we'd be better off nominating a candidate NOT from the Northeast, just because of the stigma that goes with it (elitist, "old Money", meddling in the states' busines, etc), but it probably won't make too big a deal if our candidate stays on message and doesn't try to out-Republican the Republicans.

[JohnKleeb]

19. Its been since Truman's days WOW