Why is the South so complicated to win in elections?

[steelmania75]

Seriously. According to Gallup(http://www.gallup.com/poll/114073/State-States-Series.aspx), states like Arkansas, Missouri, Kentucky, West Virginia, North Carolina are "Solid Democratic" in terms of voter registration, and Louisiana, Tennessee, Virginia, and Florida are "Lean Democratic", and states like Texas, Georgia, South Carolina, Mississippi, Alabama, and Oklahoma are competitive. We need to at least attempt to build in the South in states like Texas, Georgia, Mississippi, and South Carolina, where there's a strong minority population.

[steelmania75]

1. Any thoughts??? Anyone?

[rpannier]

2. Conservative Democratic States nt

[rvablue]

3. VA isn't complicated to win.....it's a totally BLUE state!

VA voted for Obama.

VA has two Democratic Senators.

VA, I think, is close to half and half when it comes to the House.

VA has a Democratic Governor.

And, Democrats dominate the state legislature this year.

[steelmania75]

5. I'm talking about states like Arkansas, Tennesse, West Virginia, and Georgia

[rvablue]

8. Your post said VA "leans Democratic"...not true.....we are now a bright, rich, vibrant BLUE!

[Thothmes]

7. Only in the Senate, the House has a Republican majority.

[Vincardog]

4. The Democratic party has given up on the state of TX. The Texas democratic party works for the GOP

[WhiteTara]

6. Texas was stolen by KKKarl Rove

He swiftboated Ann Richardson who had a surplus and they quickly drained that and gave Texas a deficit. Texas was very democratic until *co and they redistricted the state so that no democrat could win.

[steelmania75]

9. Maybe that can change if we can get Texans to see that the Republicans don't do sh!t for them

[w8liftinglady]

19. I'm trying...but be prepared to be crucified if you do.

They can't attack your ideas,so they will smear your name and everything about you.

[WhiteTara]

26. bastards, aren't they? n/t

[WhiteTara]

25. Texans need to win only a few more seats

and they will be able to control the redistricting of the state. THis is done very ten years and next year, it's 10!

[elizfeelinggreat]

20. We moved to Texas in '99

and I read about the history here and was appalled at what seems to have happened, redistricting, idiocy, etc.

Surely this can be undone? It's know bound to be hard because the republicans here sure are bullies! Ugh!

I'm so thrilled to see so many Obama stickers nowadays, I think a lot of people waited until he won to put them on - but there are still plenty of Bush '04 and W and McCain stickers to go around. I even see "Read my lipstick" stickers; I have to admit I speed up to see the drivers in these cars - I can't believe they'd make that public ...but they're loud and proud.

[Mr Generic Other]

10. perhaps southern democrats have not bothered to re-register

as republicans. they are the reagan republicans. that was clearly demonstrated during the last election.
the media spin on reagan republicans for the last 40 years was that they were middle income whites who had been convinced that voting with the rich would increase their own chances of becoming wealthy.
reagan's campaign message was that americans had done enough for the poor and it was time they did something for themselves. the media spin was taken from the latter part of the slogan to mask the fact that those attracted to reagan's message focused on the first part of the statement.
southerners were solidly democratic because lincoln was a republican. it took reagan to convince them that repubs. were on their side.
and one ought to take into account that southern states don't encourage the less affluent to vote. maybe they don't count all of the votes or perhaps they change the tally?
any of these could contribute to he voting/registration discrepancy.

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

11. Why is it that only whites are referred to as "southerners"?

And, why does "winning" the south require pandering to them?

[ThomWV]

12. It is because the shame of bigotry has to be disguised and the disguises have to be appeased

And I know of no simpler way to say it than that.

[depakid]

13. Not really all that complicated

Populations with lower educational levels, high religiousity and culturally ingrained "fear of the other" are easy target for propaganda.

Particularly when for all practical purposes- they've been exposed to little else.

[Tesha]

14. Race, God, race, guns, race, gays, and race.

Did I mention race?

Tesha

[elizfeelinggreat]

21. I see it more as class

and they have been hoodwinked :(

(I'm in Texas)

[Seen the light]

15. Legacy holdovers from pre-Civil Rights era

I know plenty of "Democrats" here in NC that would never actually vote for one, but would never change their registration to Republican either. Makes no goddamned sense, but whatever.

[Baikonour]

16. I bet if you looked at the states with the lowest IQs, you'd be able to connect the dots.

Hint: The average IQ in Mississippi is around 90 to 93.

[Juche]

17. dems did better than normal in the south

As an example McConnell won in KY with 53% of the vote. In 2002 he won with 65% of the vote. That is something, its about a 24 point change in vote results. I was surprised as hell when Kentucky and Indiana (Indiana isn't southern but you get the point), 2 states that are normally heavily GOP couldn't be called until vote counting had been done for a long time.

Texas will probably be a swing state by 2016 due to younger voters, growth in latino voters, older voters dying off and immigrants from non-northern states who don't share southern values on politics.

[aaaaaa5a]

18. The South was lost to the Democrats over the Civil Rights Movement.

The reason why Democratic registration is high in the south is because older people never bothered to change their registration from years past.

Prior to the 1960s the Democrats controlled the south. People forget that Strom Thurmond was a Democrat for most of his life. In the early part of the 1900's they called the South the "solid block" because it was so solidly in Democratic hands.

Of course the reason it was Democratic territory was because Abe Lincoln was a Republican. And residents in the south turned to the Democratic party in opposition to Lincoln and his policies.

Overtime the two parties (Dems/GOP) changed as younger Democrats came into power in the 1950s and 60s. They were more progressive on racial issues than their predecessors. Many of them (Bobby Kennedy) fought for Civil Rights. And as a result, white southerners began to vote Republican in increasing numbers. When LBJ signed the Civil Rights legislation of the 1960s, he said he was giving the south to the Republicans for generations to come. And sadly he was right.

Strom Thurmond was a deep south Democrat. So was George Wallace. If these politicians were in their political prime today they would be conservatives. When I lived in South Carolina, I would run into a few "old timers" who said they still never got use to Thurmond being a Republican. But they quote.... "understood why he changed!"

This lingering effect from when the South was ruled by largely racist Democrats is the reason the Democrats still have high registration numbers today. My bet would be if you looked at the age demographics among whites in the South, it is mostly older people who are still registered Democrats. (even though they now vote GOP too) The younger Southerners are now registered Republican. People simply never changed their registration to reflect their voting patterns. Remember not everyone is as politically aware as the people on this message board. The majority of Americans don't think about their party registration in day to day life.

Voting patterns in the South are largely easy to predict. Which ever side or party is more apt to support racial equality is going to lose. When I was in school in South Carolina, my Political Science teacher (a very old white man) told me that race is the only thing the majority of residents in that state vote on. And he was and is right.

If you look at the voting patterns in this past election, Obama received the fewest number of white votes in the deep southern states. Even though from an economic standpoint southern whites were hurting more than their white northern rivals when it came to the economy. Also, more white southern and rural whites (percentage wise) are dying in Iraq when compared to their northern white counterparts. But none of that mattered. Race trumps all! Oklahoma was the only state in the country where Obama did not carry a single county. And we all know why.

This is how badly the Democratic Party is viewed in the deep south. During the 2004 Presidential election, George Bush actually received a higher percentage of the African American vote in Ohio, than John Kerry received from white voters in Mississippi!

The only way the Democrats are going to do well in the deep south in my life-time is through demographic changes. This is what happened in Virginia and North Carolina this past election. Northern whites with good educations moved to the South. They are more progressive when it comes to racial issues. They aren't still fighting the Civil War. (yes I'm serious) And that was the vote that turned NC and VA blue.

As long as there is one more white person than a black person in any deep south state, no Democrat will win. You are not going to defeat racism in the Southern voting booth. It has to die out.

[K Gardner]

22. Those who are not raised here have a very difficult time understanding the mindset of "appalachia"..

one can poll until the cows come home and it's still not going to 'splain' the history of these people.

I was raised in Appalachia. My family on both sides born and raised in the mountains. I still live here. And I still don't understand.

The ones who do win elections here are playing to the basest instincts, and not to intellect or reason.

[enuegii]

23. God, guns and good-ol' boys (racists/mouthbreathers)...

Never in hell will it change.
Obama can hand over a cool million to every single Alabamian and still 60% of them will continue to scream about "them damn Democrats!"
I've come to realize that it's a lost cause...

[Captain Hilts]

24. It's about being Dems that are pro-guns and anti-unions. nt

[spanone]

27. tennessee does not lean democratic....not one bit--bogus 'facts'

i have no idea how these 'facts' are derived. tennessee is pathetically republican

oklahoma leans democrat?

kentucky leans democrat?

this is horseshit