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Honestly, this is as stupid as asking if a conservative can like the color red and not the color blue. Of course, a conservative can like rock music and hate country music. The article is correct in talking about the history of Southern politics. It was only in the 1990s that Republicans even held statewide office in the South, really. Al Smith pretty much only won the South in 1928, over Hoover. FDR won the South all 4 times he ran for President. Adlai Stevenson only won the South in 1952 over Ike, and in 1956. Nixon lost in 1960 because JFK cleaned up in the South.

A very good look at this time in our history is the movie, “O Brother, Where Art Thou?” starring hard core lefty, George Clooney. It is the story of the Odessy, told in the Depression era. The soundtrack album is a jewel of music from that time. Pap O’Daniel is played by Charles Durning. The Cyclops is John Goodman. The album never made it onto the charts, but every indy station around played it constantly.

I loved Gram Parson’s music, hated his politics. It was through Parsons that I came to be a huge fan of Emmy Lou Harris. Mr. X and I have often bemoaned the fact that our wedding was on the same night as one of her PPAC concerts. We should have skipped out and gone to the show!

Also, Woody Guthrie may have been a Leftie, but when WWII broke out he tried to enlist but because of his Huntington’s Disease, he was rejected. He joined the U.S. Merchant Marines (highly dangerous duty) and served with honour. The Country Hall of Fame should do the right thing by Woody. I learned to sing his songs in grade school, taught to me by nuns.

“It was only in the 1990s that Republicans even held statewide office in the South”

You must understand that Southerners were VERY much biased by the Civil War, when “Democrat” meant “friend” and “Republican” meant “enemy”. They seemingly could not shake this loyalty until Klintoon (1 of “their own”, LOL) helped push them over the edge of finally letting it drop.

This silly attitude has killed MD, BTW. MD was South and largely South-sympathetic. Like other Southerners, MDers stuck to “Democrat” because of (non-)memories of the Civil War. Then, the “foreigners” who love government and the useless jobs it created started pouring into MD and changing its real conservative nature. Now, we are GENUINELY “Democrat” in the modern sense, and cannot possibly get rid of it because the “foreigners” are genuine Dems, and have outnumbered and displaced the real MDers who deep down, were actually conservative. Meanwhile, the rest of the South really didn’t have this problem of influx of genuine socialists, and so was able to finally show as really Republican.

Sorry for the slight diversion from topic. Off my soap box!