Will the Republican Party going to become the Southern Party?

[Drunken Irishman]

Chris Matthews was talking about this. The only region where McCain gained on Bush was in the south, Appalachia, the racist backbone of America.

Could this be the Republican Party's future? I mean, they're losing support in major swing states, especially out west, yet seem to have a dominant hold on the south.

Will 2012 be Palin and the South against Obama and The Rest of the Country?

[JeanGrey]

1. Yes. Palin is well liked in the South from what I can tell.

It wouldn't surprise me at all to see her run in 2012.

[Hokie]

2. We could only hope

I don't think she would win more than a handful of states. I think may southern states that voted for McCain would be in play including Georgia and Texas.

[WHEN CRABS ROAR]

3. It's going south alright.

[Wapsie B]

4. From one map shown on here

which outlined areas where people voted more repug than before it appeared that Arkansas was the epicenter of this activity.



http://graphics8.nytimes.com/packages/flash/politics/20081104_ELECTION_RECAP/electionChange2.swf



edit: Tennessee & Oklahoma as well.

[DJ13]

5. When the stomach is empty you dont care about God, guns, or gays

..unless you're a Southern Baptist seeking to push your worldview on the rest of the country.

[WI_DEM]

6. It has been by and large since 2000.

[eleny]

7. I don't see how she makes it through a Primary

She's going to have fight it out with any number of articulate and experienced pols. I doubt she'll make it.

Even the Republicans will figure out by 2012 that they'll do better with a candidate like Tom Ridge and his pro choice position than a whacked out fundamentalist who's waiting to be bottle rocketed out of her shoes.

[Mayberry Machiavelli]

8. I don't think it's the future. It's pretty much their present. And in case you

hadn't noticed, Obama planted the Dem flag pretty deeply in their Southern stronghold too with wins in two of the South's biggest states and turning a third one into a battleground.

[lapfog_1]

9. There are three states in the inter-mountain west

that are solidly red. Wyoming, Idaho, Utah.

All the rest are trending blue.

There is a solid strip of red from South Dakota down to Texas.

And all the rest is the deep south and Appalachia, not including Florida, Virginia, or North Carolina. Eventually even Georgia and South Carolina might tinge blue.

[Drunken Irishman]

11. Even Utah, Wyoming and Idaho were bluer this election than in 2004.

Utah and Idaho are two of the fastest growing states in the country and Utah has one of the fastest growing Hispanic populations in the west. I believe in eight years, Utah will be red, but far less red than it is today and even today it's trending Democratic.

[BumRushDaShow]

10. The reddest state ended up being Oklahoma

and there are still alot of AAs in the south who refused to vote, not considering it worth their time. Which is why a state with a 39% AA population like Mississippi could fail like it did. But one day, those folks are going to wake up... especially now that Obama is actually there in the highest office of the land (or at least he will be officially on inauguration day), and that might FINALLY break through the barrier they have erected. I don't know how long it will take for my AA brethren standing at that water, to get them to drink, but eventually I think they will, and that would put the nail in the coffin of the "southern strategy".

[Hieronymus]

12. Ron Christie threw McCain under a bus today on Hardball. It's Palin all

the way.

[trof]

13. OK, I'm willing to take one for the Democratic Party.

I live in Alabama, and that ain't gonna change.
The reasons are mainly economic, and that's kinda complicated to go into here.
But I'm perfectly willing to suck ALL the repugs down here and let the rest of the country elect Dems to the presidency and congress.

We might as well just go from being the biggest cesspool to being the ONLY cesspool.

It won't hurt any more than it already does and it would actually make us feel good about our self sacrificing altruism.
:-)

[Dappleganger]

14. Please, no. Florida needs to remain blue!

[Drunken Irishman]

15. I'm mostly talking about the Old South.

Not really included in that is Georgia, Virginia, North Carolina & Florida.

[trof]

16. Hey, they're all 'older' than we are. We didn't get here until 1819.

[Two Sheds]

18. What on earth is the Old South?

Virginia, Georgia, North Carolina AND South Carolina were colonies.

SC, GA, FL, MS, AL, LA, and Texas were the first seven Confederate States. VA, NC, Arkansas, and Tennessee joined them later.

There is overlap anywhere you look. Might need to work on your definitions.

[uponit7771]

17. Palin Power 2012?!?!?! Please join me in voting for her in 2012 primaries!!