Democrats don't need Dixie

The Baltimore Sun ^ | 10/27/06 | Thomas F. Schaller

[LibertarianInExile]

[snip]

The civil rights movement forced Southern whites to choose between their New Deal-era populism and the demands of racial integration and cultural assimilation. Today's Northeastern and Midwestern whites confront a similar, albeit more subtle, choice between their preferences for a more private faith, a more responsible accounting for their hard-earned tax dollars and a more prudent use of America's military might - and a national Republican Party that has abandoned those principles to appease its ascendant Southern wing.

[snip]

[LibertarianInExile]

Interesting, if odd, analysis. I'm not sure how the GOP has 'appeased' Southern conservatives, exactly.

[LibertarianInExile]

Ping!

[decal]

"Democrats don't need Dixie"

They will after the next census - but it will be too late then...

[Maelstorm]

Sometimes one has to wonder does the left really believe its own rhetoric? When will they ever die from the koolaid laced with stupidity that they are drinking?

[Candor7]

Interesting, if odd, analysis.>>>>>>>>>>>

Agreed, odd in the sense that it sounds like the replay of an old cracked record.

No party can do without Dixie.

And Dixie has saved our nation from a moon bat takeover, as it will again.

Them good ole boys are drinkin' whiskey and rye, and G_D Bless 'em!

[WOSG]

"Interesting, if odd, analysis. I'm not sure how the GOP has 'appeased' Southern conservatives, exactly."

As Howard Dean put it ... "God, Guns, and Gays."
(I"d add abortion/prolife and family and patriotism to the list) ...


How dare we fight against a secularist moral reliativism that takes away our RKBA rights and tells us to quit beign so uptight about family and country and all that cr8p.
Time to get re-educated by Ward Churchill!

[Jedi Master Pikachu]

Interesting title. Around 150 years ago, it was the Republicans that didn't need Dixie. And was the spark which caused the War between the States (seems to be the least biased, either way, if there is a more neutral one, you're free to ping it).

[staytrue]

No party can do without Dixie.

flip ohio in 2004 and kerry is president.

[msnimje]

Democrats don't need Dixie

How very convenient because we are finding less and less use for them as well.

[BigSkyFreeper]

Their "moral values" platform is what gets them in to trouble. Has nothing to do with demographics.

[sageb1]

How about "Dixie doesn't need the Democrats"?

[Candor7]

Remember when Dean made a foray into Dixie, and tried to press schmooze with Carter? Carter denied him any endorsement later, in the MSM.

What a surprise from a former president who is such a moonbat wimp!

Dean has so little integrity that even a wimpy Carter could not lower himself to be supportive of Vermont's Village Idiot.

Deans attempts to get southern support were a disaster, and comprised a litmus test of whether he could be suitable for the presidency.No presidential candidate can be elected without a "PASS" from Dixie, whether Democrat or Republican.

That is a very good thing. And it is also why the Dems mean to populate Dixie with Mexican illegal aliens.

[ozzymandus]

RATS don't need Dixie?? If Algore had carried his home state, he'd have won in 2000.

[LibertarianInExile]

The sad thing is that Dean may be closer personally to the right than many in his party or his moonbat following. He seems to be characterized as a loon here, but I understand he's been pro-RKBA in the past while Gov in his home state.

I don't know that I'd take a rejection from Jimmy Carter as a negative for anyone, even a Rat, even the head Rat.

[Condor 63]

As a lifetime Alabamian I can pretty much assure anyone that has any doubts that liberalism and by default Democratic principles are about as far away from common Southern values as you can get. Nobody knows this better than the Alabama Democratic Party which regularly tries to pass themselves off as Republican Lite. They have to do that now in order to have any chance of getting elected to a major statewide office.

IMO they don't have much choice but to say that don't need us. They don't have much of a chance to get us to start with....

And I'm not just talking from the Southern religious standpoint. Basically anyone that knows or at least understands the South realizes that the vast majority here are pro-family and extremely pro-military.

The typical Democrat might as well be speaking Chinese to us.

[dixiechick2000]

And, here is how you can ALL express your sentiments.


Thomas F. Schaller is an associate professor of political science at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County, and author of "Whistling Past Dixie: How Democrats Can Win Without the South."

His e-mail is schaller67@hotmail.com.


My goodness...he's a Professor, and authored this book!


"Whistling Past Dixie: How Democrats Can Win Without the South."


Ya' know...Southerners must be the dreaded secret weapon the 'Rats fear!

[Brad from Tennessee]

The reason Dixie doesn't buy "progressive" politics and culture can be summed up with: "If it ain't broke don't fix it."

[LibertarianInExile]

"When will they ever die from the koolaid laced with stupidity that they are drinking?"

Well, stupid don't always kill you quick, as the federal bureaucracy has proven time and again.

But I did think that the author had a point RE: the House. The Rats are pretty close to a majority without the South, largely on the strength of Congressional districts that screw the GOP in some of the most populous states (which will, of course, get worse if they're elected to more state legislatures). Rare that someone points this out.

[fieldmarshaldj]

He's the prime example of, "Those that can, do. Those that can't, teach." Be nice when we can rid the liberal locusts from our higher ed facilities (and lower ones, too).

[Candor7]

flip ohio in 2004 and kerry is president.>>>>>>>>

Yes but the same flip of Ohio would have counter flipped or strenthened the Republican vote in a Southern state or states.. Thats the neat thing.No flips occur without the same social forces bringing an increase in Republican votes from the South.

And it is the reason why the idea that anyone can win power without the South is ...well BUNK. There is more at work than mere numbers.

[ChiMark]

Michigan being blue as can be is going to lose
more industry. Ford has lost over $5 billion.
It's possible they will go belly-up.

Grandholm if re-elected will preside over a corpse.
Michigan is but an example of those "blue states"
which are economically and socially dead.
Go democrats!

[Ingtar]

In 2004 the flipping of Ohio would have put Kerry in the White House. There were no Southern states he carried that could have flipped to Bush in order to offset the electoral votes he would have received.

[Colonel Kangaroo]

And Dixie has saved our nation from a moon bat takeover, as it will again.

And this would even the score as the rest of the country saved Dixie from the Confederates in 1861-1865. The North liberated black southerners from slavery and saved most white southerners from being mere "hewers of wood and drawers of water" for the slaveowing Confederate establishment.

[nathanbedford]

No I'm afraid staytrue has got it right. And, unfortunately, so does the author:

Should they find themselves leading new Democratic majorities, their ascendancy will be the byproduct of a regional correction that has mostly unfolded on the other side of the country in a quadrant of Rust Belt states over which the modern Republican Party is slowly - and perhaps inevitably - losing its grip.

The problem with the Southern strategy is that the South is becoming northern. For example, Florida is becoming a suburb of New York City and Miami-Dade, Palm Beach counties, coupled with Orlando and Jacksonville, will soon control the state and hand it to the Democrats. Even with Ohio, Republicans cannot win without Florida. But Ohio is in grave jeopardy and very likely to go the way of Pennsylvania in this election never to be retrieved. Even with Florida Republicans cannot win without Ohio. Virginia is similar to Florida where demographics in the counties surrounding Washington, DC and near Norfolk are transforming a state as we speak into another Pennsylvania.

New Mexico no longer safe, likewise Arizona.

At the root of all this evil is our unrestrained policy of immigration. Soon you will see the baleful effects of George Bush's malignant neglect of our borders taking our birthright away even in Texas. As George Bush exits the White House his immigration policies will also usher out the Republican Party. Demographics is destiny.

There are no countervailing offsets against the creeping blue stain.

[DocH]

the idea that anyone can win power without the South is ...well BUNK.

The same goes for fighting our nations wars...

Victory can't be achieved without good ol' Southern boys (in greater number than most other regions, except for maybe the west/southwest, from what I've heard/read) closing with and destroying the enemy.

[AlGone2001]

"flip ohio in 2004 and kerry is president."

Flip TN in 2000 and Gore is president.

Tennessee voted their values like crazy that cycle.

[Alia]

From article: Right now, the Democrats are as excited about this election as any since 1992. They are positioned to win enough seats to capture the House of Representatives, and perhaps the Senate as well. For many Democrats, and particularly women or Baltimoreans with hometown pride, the thought of area native Nancy Pelosi becoming the first female speaker of the House is a heady prospect, indeed.

Whether Ms. Pelosi will get the 15 seats she needs to put her over the top depends less on how voters feel about her party than it does on their level of disgruntlement with the Republicans and President Bush, particularly on the issue of Iraq. What's not in doubt is whence the new Democrats who would form Ms. Pelosi's new majority caucus would come - or rather, not come: the South.

Aha, the author thinks the KayEdwards/Pelosi imaging will carry the day. News: It won't.

A huge amount of our soldiers are coming from the South. The South is big on family. The South would support its troops moreso than vote "against President Bush and the WOT" - regardless. And this is where the author is bang-dead wrong in his analysis. For starters. The rest of the article points hinges upon this false premise of his. Devoid of substance.

[Alia]

However, the author article does explain the whole reason for their "troops speak out against the WOT" agenda going on in the Southern States. What is the count now? 213 troops speaking out via Fenton Productions and Moveon.org?

NC *Ping*

Please FRmail Constitution Day OR TaxRelief OR Alia if you want to be added to or removed from this North Carolina ping list.

[Non-Sequitur]

No party can do without Dixie

Nonsense. Had Kerry won Ohio he would have been president without a single southern electoral vote. And the Democrats could easily win on 2008 without a single southern vote as well.

[Tai_Chung]

Democrats don't need Dixie

In other words, Democrats don't really care about Louisiana. If Republicans are every going to have a spot at that state, the people in Louisiana need to learn that Democrats are not the best choice.

In my opinion, the political South today has a direct relationship to Ronald Reagan and his Reagan Democrats. President Reagan would say that he didn't leave the Democratic Party, the Democratic Party left him. I believe many in the South feel the same way. The trend is toward Republicans because Republicans hold the values that many Southerns thought the Democratic Party once held.

I doubt the Democrats will write-off the South. However, instead of appealing to Soutehrn voters they will attempt to flood the region will illegals to change the demographics.

[timydnuc]

I agree. The last time I was in Dallas you could hear more New York accents than Texas accents. But that's Dallas. Come to West Texas and it's pure Texan.

The New England liberals want out of there, the trouble is that they bring their politics with them. Texas is big, wide and free, and we aim to keep it that way.

Thirteen days of Glory and the Men of Alamo!

I live in Minnesota now but I miss my beloved Texas like you miss an old sweetheart. We'll move back when I retire and maybe open up a little general practice (medicine). Check out the kids, take care of the folks and live for real in my old home.

You can take the boy out of Texas, but you can't take Texas out of the boy, not ever. I talk way too slow for these Yankees, they always try to hurry me up, and it's just in my nature.

[Jedi Master Pikachu]

And also subjugated the South and acted as though the Confederacy was a conquered country (which it was, but not according to the North); and led to more virulent racism; and crushed the South so much that even today those of low culture are stereotyped as being Southern (rednecks); and gave more power to the federal government, drawing power away from the states; and illegally tried to retake Texas although Texas did clearly have the ability to secede, and stopped other states from debatably legal secession; and engaged the country (reunified after the war) in the largest war in American history.

The North was hardly the good guy in the War Between the States; even George Lucas saw this, as the Clone Wars are heavily patterned after the War Between the States, and he seems to be very liberal.

[STONEWALLS]

the Baltimore Sun publishes from a race tinged perspective....blacks have legally siezed power in that once-great city and proceeded to run it into the ground....the Sun panders to what they believe will be the black viewpoint on everything from sports to politics...

[Jedi Master Pikachu]

Although part of the south geographically, Arizona and even New Mexico are not generally considered part of Dixie (the South).

[Jedi Master Pikachu]

So, was the Confederacy racist? Not much more than the North, but you make it seem that way (if your username is after the general, who was decidedly non-racist for the time). You dishonor the Confederacy.

[usslsm51]

I buy that!

[F.J. Mitchell]

The author completely misses the reality of this situation.

We in dixie, saw the error of our ways, the deceit of the dims and the garbage they had tossed upon our beautiful landscape, and evicted the sonovabitches!

The blue staters fished our garbage, the dims, out of our trash cans and sanitary landfills, took them home, and declared them to be objects de art and adore them.

A wise man's garbage is a dim witted man's treasure! Nuf sed.

[tobyhill]

The lying rats recycle this nonsense every election.

[bimbo]

Thomas F. Schaller is an associate professor of political science at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County, and author of "Whistling Past Dixie: How Democrats Can Win Without the South."

... just another Maryland Lib trying to deny that Maryland is a Southern State.

[F.J. Mitchell]

That's like a malignant tumor trying to break ties with the healthy tissue, isn't it?

Thank you professor Schaller.

[ohioman]

You are right my friend. There are more folks in the military from the South than any other region.

[nathanbedford]

But the border states are part of the South, do you like the trend there? Which of the following states are going our way: Tennessee, West Virginia, Missouri, Kentucky, Maryland?

We should be walking away with a senatorial races in Tennessee and Missouri. I believe that we will prevail in both states but it shouldn't even be close in Tennessee. It's been close for too many election cycles in Missouri. Why cannot we knock off an octogenarian ex- Ku Klux Klan member in West Virginia? Why is our incumbent in Missouri vulnerable but the Democrats incumbent in West Virginia not vulnerable? Kentucky seems stable for this cycle and we have an aberration which we should enjoy in Maryland but, surely, you don't believe that portends a change of course for that left-wing state.

If you're going to construct a Southern strategy you must have the border states as well as Arizona and New Mexico. The trend in all of these places is not good.

The overall map shows that we are unable to turn blue states red, except where anomalies exist such as in New Jersey (corruption) and Maryland. These are offset this year by Montana (like New Jersey also a corruption anomaly), Virginia and Ohio. We are losing an incumbent in Rhode Island. Yes he is a Rino but the loss shows that a Republican of any stripe is anathema in the Northeast. Remember when it was possible to elect a senator (D'Amato) in New York State? Remember when we could elect a Republican senator in Illinois? Will this year show that we cannot reelect a Republican incumbent in Pennsylvania? All the polls indicate that that is the case. Less so in Ohio.

The overall map also shows that the Democrats can turn red states blue, and not just in the north but certainly in the border states. The threat in Virginia, (it is the Old Dominion for heaven sakes-a state of the old Confederacy, not a border state,) is very real and next cycle if not this cycle it may go red. Pennsylvania is gone and Ohio is going. Virginia might be next with Florida not far behind. Missouri has demonstrated its fickleness only one Senate race ago. Tennessee this cycle is showing signs of decay.

In response you might say, well given another election cycle, and given a different set of national concerns, and given a new candidate mix, the tables might well be turned and Republicans might be able to make incursions into the blue states of the North. You could point to New Jersey and Maryland to support that proposition. One cannot deny the possibility but it would run counter to existing trends and more importantly, counter to demographics. I can only hope that you would be right.

[longtermmemmory]

Democrats don't think they need actual voting either.

[Senator Goldwater]

The Democrats don't need Dixie?

They weren't going to get it anyway, which is why they remain powerless.

[Thumper1960]

The United States is long overdue for a cleansing revolution.

Tom Jefferson was prescient in that he knew democracies would need refertilizations....from time to time.

The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants.
Thomas Jefferson

[WashingtonSource]

The Civil War preserved the union but any beneficial effects on the South were long delayed. First came the revenge of the radical Republicans. Many white people lost their right to vote. Carpetbaggars roamed the land stirring up trouble and stealing everything they could. There was no nationl effort to encourage the economic development of the South, except what was home grown. Having destroyed the economy of the South, the nation owed the South a concerted effort to promote prosperity. It was not really until post World War II that the economy took off in the South.

[Fishrrman]

nathanbedford writes:
At the root of all this evil is our unrestrained policy of immigration. Soon you will see the baleful effects of George Bush's malignant neglect of our borders taking our birthright away even in Texas. As George Bush exits the White House his immigration policies will also usher out the Republican Party. Demographics is destiny.
There are no countervailing offsets against the creeping blue stain.

Sadly, Nathan, you are right (as usual).

The country is slowly, surely, irreversibly "tipping" leftward, pulled by the weight of never-ending illegal (and legal, too) immigration.

We have seen what the notion of "guest workers" has done for Europe. It has done them in.

And so it may be here. I still like to believe that we might stop the trend, perhaps even reverse it. But, no, that's not going to happen.

As Nathan has pointed out, as we have seen states like Pennsylvania slowly "tip", so goes the rest of the nation. It's no longer a matter of "if", but instead of "how long left"?

And YES, this IS George W. Bush's "legacy"! Make no mistake about that! (and I voted for him twice.) Republican policies are as much to blame for our current situation as the Democrats. Worse, the Pubbies had a chance to turn back the tide years ago - and they did NOTHING.

Will the last Euro-American leaving turn out the lights?

- John

[Tax-chick]

You have to wonder about the kind of person who would identify herself with Nancy Pelosi ... sort of like you wonder about the kind of woman who would admire Bill Clinton.

It gives me the creeps to think that some might live on my street! The Mexicans may drink beer and play loud polca music in the driveway, but at least they wouldn't give Nancy Pelosi the time of day :-).

[nathanbedford]

U.S. population may hit 400 million by 2043

I first posted this a couple of years ago.From your comments I suspect you might find it of passing interest. Alas, it is only more drearily true today:

THE POPULATION OF AMERICA HAS DOUBLED IN MY LIFETIME

If you have lost control of your local school system and you believe it is because liberalism is triumphing over conservatism, you are right but you have identified the symptom and not the cause: The population of America has doubled in my lifetime.

If you have lost control over your own real property, if your rights to manage, improve, and develop your property have passed over to bureaucrats, if you can no longer choose whom to rent to or whom to sell to, if you have lost confidence that your deed in fee simple absolute will protect you against a venal government or one wholly given over to interest groups, and for all of this you blame liberalism, you have identified the symptom but not the cause: The population of America has doubled in my lifetime.

If you are a rancher who has lost his rights to graze his cattle upon lands licensed to his family for generations, if you're a fox hunter who has been deprived of his sport, if you must wait three hours for a tee time, if you have given up taking the family to the Jersey shore because the travel time now exceeds three hours, if, after hours of travail, you finally arrive at the Jersey shore with your family and you find your neighbors to close, too numerous, polyglot, and uncongenial, know this;The population of America has doubled in my lifetime.

If you look at Broward and Palm Beach counties in Florida as-miracle of the jet age-suburbs of New York City, and you watch helplessly as the politics of these counties veer ever farther left potentially dragging all Florida and, with Florida, the soul of the Republican Party in America, be advised: The population of America has doubled in my lifetime.

If, as a parent or grandparent, you find yourself mightily boring your children or grandchildren with descriptions of how Christmas used to be, descriptions of a time gone by when shopkeepers were permitted to say, "Merry Christmas," when Christmas carols were really that, carols, when the public square was a place for the exuberant celebration of the birth of Christ, rather than a forum for the celebration of the pagan, then you instinctively know: The population of America has doubled in my lifetime.

If you are old enough to remember America before the vietnamization of America, then you must love your country and you see her "a shining city on the hill" as the last best hope for men.

You know what to do.

[Condor 63]

However, instead of appealing to Soutehrn voters they will attempt to flood the region will illegals to change the demographics.

Not will, are.

It is already happening.

Although personally I think the Republicans are just as much to blame....