The GOP's Southern Exposure

[ribrepin]

You've seen the numbers and understand that America is growing steadily less white. You try to push your party, the Grand Old Party, ahead of this curve by taking a tolerant stance on immigration and making common cause with some black churches. Then you go and blow it all in a desperate attempt to turn out your base by demonizing immigrants and running racist ads against Harold Ford. On Election Day, black support for Democrats remains high; Hispanic support for Democrats surges. So what do you do next?

What else? Elect Trent Lott your deputy leader in the Senate. Sure locks in the support of any stray voters who went for Strom in '48.

In case you haven't noticed, a fundamental axiom of modern American politics has been altered in recent weeks. For four decades, it's been the Democrats who've had a Southern problem. Couldn't get any votes for their presidential candidates there; couldn't elect any senators, then any House members, then any dogcatchers. They still can't, but the Southern problem, it turns out, is really the Republicans'. They've become too Southern -- too suffused with the knee-jerk militaristic, anti-scientific, dogmatically religious, and culturally, sexually and racially phobic attitudes of Dixie -- to win friends and influence elections outside the South. Worse yet, they became more Southern still on Election Day last month, when the Democrats decimated the GOP in the North and West. Twenty-seven of the Democrats' 30 House pickups came outside the South.

The Democrats won control of five state legislatures, all outside the South, and took more than 300 state legislative seats away from Republicans, 93 percent of them outside the South. As for the new Senate Republican caucus that chose Mississippi's Lott over Tennessee's Lamar Alexander to be deputy to Kentucky's Mitch McConnell, 17 of its 49 members come from the Confederacy proper, with another three from the old border states of Kentucky and Missouri, and two more from Oklahoma, which is Southern but with more dust. In all, 45 percent of Republican senators come from the Greater South.

[Vexatious Ape]

1. It's pretty grim down here

I live in the Christian Fascist stronghold of Henry County Georgia--my Republican Congressman (Westmoreland)won by about 65% or so, and the Republican Governor kicked the Dem challenger into the Okefenokee swamp and buried his ass.

[AndyTiedye]

3. You Have to Get Rid of those DIEBOLD REPUBLICAN ELECTING MACHINEZ

When they count ALL the votes on those Diebold Republican Electing (DRE) machinez
they can make up any numbers they want. You have to get rid of those machinez!

[Vexatious Ape]

5. That would help

but so would getting rid of that "Ole Time Religion".

[AndyTiedye]

2. May Their Bigoted Attitudes Continue to Backfire on Them

[RoyGBiv]

4. "Too Southern"?

What in the holy hell does that even mean?

Oh, and it case you didn't notice, no such thing as "the Confederacy proper" exists.

And George Bush's positive approval rating is *not* in the South.

[luckyleftyme2]

6. IT SURE AS HECK

AIN'T IN YANKEE LAND!

[RoyGBiv]

10. WELL OKAY

BTW, the caps-lock key is on the left of your keyboard, above the shift key.

[ribrepin]

7. I saw the latest Survey USA graphic

Bush is not viewed positively in the south, but they still vote republican. Could it be that they don't think Bush is enough of a hard ass? I don't know what's going on, but it seems the South is lost to the Democrats for the foreseeable future.

Pray for the dead, and fight like hell for the living. Mother Jones

[RoyGBiv]

11. Maybe you should study the South ...

In a political context.

Oklahoma is mentioned directly in the OP. Democratic governor, one mentioned in some fanciful circles as a potential Presidential candidate (even though I think that's a bad idea), traditionally Democratic legislature that recently gained back a lot of seats they lost in 2000 and 2004, and a majority of registered Democrats.

Lost to Republicans?

No. Lost to an idealized, singular version of what some believe a Democrat is supposed to be, i.e. the subset of Democrats, those who rule the NE mostly (or YANKEE LAND as a previous poster put it) have forgotten the what the term "populism" means, how it forms a core of Democratic principles, and how it could be used if Democratic leaders weren't so gawd-awful afraid of appearing to be pandering to common folk.

[rpannier]

9. scrub is not the only indicator of republikkan support

The Senate, the House, state and local races are better indicators.

In addition, giving someone low poll numbers does not mean they wouldn't still vote for him for President if given the chance.

[RoyGBiv]

12. Local races?

Okay. Oklahoma, as an example mentioned in the OP, is then a traditionally solid Democratic state. Our legislature wavered in the last four years, but not by much, and it's going back in the other direction. Truly local positions are often held by Democrats that never even face opposition due to their popularity.

Of course what you meant to say was "local" in the sense of "national," i.e. not local ... or something. IOW, national House and Senate seats. Yeah, Oklahoma is Republican there. It shouldn't need to be that way, but it is, in large part because the national party structure abandoned this and many other Southern states. Dean has started turning that particular worm, but since Oklahoma specifically is so low on the totem poll, I don't see much changing here soon.

And why Republicans? One word: oil.

[Cobalt-60]

8. Inertia will be a problem

The Southern problem will not be fixed in a day.
A combination of poor education, evangelical religion, and baked on racism makes this prime Republican territory.
Their policies keep it that way, too.
Fortunately Southerners are also practical.
The Republican party took a massive dump on them in the wake of Katrina and Rita.
That wasn't enough on its own. But its effect can be magnified by coming across with real assistance - or at least trying to - early in the next congress.
Indeed, the Republican Chimp will be the villain actively keeping damaged towns from getting help.
I should think rebuilding southern towns is a job tailor made for the Seabees.
There should be no doubt that the Democrats are delivering the goods.
Also, the Republican congressional delegations role should be sufficiently minimized that it appears the aid was delivered in spite of them rather than because of them. We should never again miss angles like that. Our enemies don't.

Beyond air for past damages, another thing we might do is back off the Confederate Flag.
It's a sensitive spot with them, and poking it just makes matters worse.
I know many are offended by the Stars and Bars. Your part of the price of southern victory will be to ignore it.
Coming down on that flag in the south is as lethal as gun control in rural areas.

[symbolman]

13. I like the sound of that

"THE NORTH SHALL RISE AGAIN!" :)

[sinkingfeeling]

14. Where's your link to this WP story by Harold Meyerson?

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/12/06/AR2006120601671.html

[ribrepin]

15. Thanks, I originally posted in latest breaking news

I guess the link didn't make the transfer or maybe I forgot it--it was way past bedtime when I put this up.