Forget the South, Democrats

You'll make a lot of unnecessary trouble for yourself if you take Tim Noah seriously. Every article he writes is intended to bash conservatives. Noah's not always wrong, but it usually makes sense to ignore him. IIRC, he is a rather petted fellow out of Beverly Hills and Harvard who's never really taken any challenge to his opinions or his ego seriously. Consequently, he's not as good a writer as he might have been if he felt he had to prove things or win over those who disagree.

Noah reaches for whatever is at hand to make his point and doesn't consider how good an argument it is. Does anyone imagine that if a Presidential candidate had said "I want the vote of Joe Sixpack" that there wouldn't be an outcry and calls to apologize? To say nothing about "wealthy Jews." The difference between what politicians can say and what's allowed to journalists is something that Noah ought to be able to grasp.

Is the South "socialistic"? I think you have to understand this in the context of Easterners being forever told that they are "socialistic" by Southerners and Westerners whose states are net beneficiaries of government spending while New Jersey and Connecticut are the big losers in the federal redistribution game. It is something to take into account -- when people associate welfare with the Northeast, for example, they neglect its importance in other parts of the country -- but it's more of an insult thrown through clenched teeth than a serious remark.

Do Republicans really "write off" the Northeast? New Hampshire was critical to Bush. Can Democrats afford to ignore the South? The problem is that a lot of the states crucial to Democrats have rural and small town populations who aren't so very different in their attitudes from Southerners. Write off the South and it may mean losing states like Ohio or Pennsylvania. No Democrat can win the Presidency with the support of social and cultural liberals alone. There's much that's "Southern" -- i.e. religious, patriotic, and socially and culturally conservative about working class voters that Democrats need to win.

It's not good when a party or candidate professes to ignore any group of voters. It's insulting, works against national unity, and can create a serious backlash. Politicians can think that way, but they only mention it in public at their peril.

"It doesn't make a whole lot of sense because statewide and local elections in the South still were overwhelmingly Democrat"

I am wondering which southern states you are talking about.

Republicans own the legislature here (in Florida), also Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi....I haven't really checked the rest.

In the 80's the rule was vote Republican national and Democrat local. But since then, the locals have switched to the Republican Party quite rapidly, even mayors, sheriffs and city councilmen.

If I were you I'd research a little before proclaiming overwhelming Democrat majority in local offices.

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