How progressives can turn the deep South blue

[babylonsister]

http://www.msnbc.com/msnbc/blue-future-georgia

How progressives can turn the deep South blue
02/07/14 07:03 AM—Updated 02/07/14 12:41 PM
By Benjamin Jealous


The whispers are traveling around progressive circles from Atlanta to Washington: Georgia might go blue by 2020 or even 2016.

But what about 2014?

The demographic winds in the South are shifting, and the question is only a matter of how fast. This November, Michelle Nunn has a chance to become the first Democratic senator from Georgia in a decade. Her success – and the success of the progressive movement in the South – will boil down to one thing above all: voter registration.

There have been a number of dress rehearsals for a more progressive South, from the Reconstruction Era to the wave of progressive Southern governors in the late 1960’s. Progressives have experienced disappointment so many times, we are prepared to be disappointed again. But this time can be different.

Three things are happening at once to change the face of the South forever: black re-migration, Latino immigration and frustration with the conservative movement among young people and independent white women.

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The Southern Strategy’s dominance is coming to an end, and intense voter registration will make it end sooner. Florida set the standard. Georgia can prove the point. And throughout the South, we can make the future come faster if we organize.

These possibilities are fueling excitement for a revival of the Freedom Summer from Mississippi to the Carolinas. As Stacey Abrams, the first black female House Minority Leader of the Georgia State Assembly, told me: “2014 is a transformational year. Demography may be destiny, but voter registration is the pathway to the future in Georgia.”

[tosh]

1. It's not just registration...

TURNOUT, TURNOUT, TURNOUT.

[deaniac21]

2. In 2014 elections

a blue wind will sweep over the entire south.

[jwirr]

3. We did it once before. And it worked.

[Gothmog]

4. I think that Texas will be in play soon

I am working hard on the Davis campaign and we hope to turn Texas blue

[Dustlawyer]

6. I agree. How are her Voters Registration efforts going if you know?

[Gothmog]

8. Both Wendy and the Party are relying on Battleground Texas

Battleground is doing a great job. I am a deputy voter registrar for my county and have registered voters for Battleground. It is a very satisfying experience.

I heard some stats from Battleground a while back but I do not remember these numbers. I will look.

I am also busy trying to organize some voter id clinics. There is a way to get a voter a "free id" for only $3 so long as that voter is not married and is using the same name as on their birth certificate.

[okaawhatever]

5. Michelle Nunn is such an awesome choice. Her father's long history makes her more appealing

to the older Republican. I think a lot of younger blue collar Republicans will vote for her, too.

[W T F]

7. An ad campaign that tells people that if they don't vote this time…republicans will take…….

away their right to vote and they will never get it back. Scare tactics work and it's time to beat the GOP at their own game.