Free Republic

One above-board factor the campaign can claim credit for is turning Bill Clinton loose to do his Bubba routine among small towns of displaced blue-collar workers. The former president remains popular with the NASCAR crowd and he never fails to skewer the Bush administration, noting, for example, that he left office with a federal budget surplus. Much less important—indeed, bordering on the insignificant, despite the spin given it by consultants with the ear of gullible reporters—is Clinton's endorsement by North Carolina Governor Mike Easley. On paper Easley is a four-time statewide winner, including two wins as attorney general before his...

Perhaps the greatest lesson to be learned by Democrats from this week’s “bitter” brouhaha is that when you get advice about how to hook rural, white, blue-collar voters from a guy named Mudcat, you’d best listen. Dave “Mudcat” Saunders—Democratic strategist, bluegrass enthusiast, and general pied piper of the “Bubba vote,” as he calls it—had a little-noticed fight with liberal bloggers back in June 2007 that perfectly presaged this week’s controversy. “I have bitched and moaned for years about the lack of tolerance in the elitist wing of the Democratic Party, or what I refer to as the ‘Metropolitan Opera Wing.’...

Those who have been closely following the politics of the Democratic primaries may have noticed that someone is missing -- and I'm not referring to Bob Shrum, the Rev. Al Sharpton or an as-yet-undiscovered "Gravel Girl." I'm talking about the white male voter, or at least a certain long-coveted variety thereof. He is variously known as "NASCAR dad" -- that shirt-sleeved, straight-talkin', these-colors-don't-run fella who votes his cultural values above all else -- or "Bubba," as Steve Jarding and Dave "Mudcat" Saunders affectionately call him in their book, "Foxes in the Henhouse." Start looking on milk cartons for Bubba because...

States with more mobile homes as a percentage of total housing units voted predominately for Bush.

Zell Miller: The secret weapon to woo Bubba Testosterone-drenched speech rallied faithful, excited undecideds KATHLEEN PARKER Tribune Media Services NEW YORK - Note to Howard Dean: About that Bubba vote? Two words. Zell Miller. Wonder no more what gets the good ol' boys' juices flowing, and don't pay no never mind to them talking heads on this question. The answer is this: real men taking charge, talking straight, telling truth, and leaving the girlie men to fuss about the nuances of terrorist sensitivity. Miller's fiery, brimstone-studded speech on the penultimate night of the Republican convention was a quintessential testosterone moment...

TO: Sen. John "Catfish" KerryFROM: The Hon. Ben "Cooter" JonesSUBJECT: Southern Strategy Hey, I want to congratulate all of y'all in the campaign for what you have done so far in pulling this thing off. Kickin' butt and takin' names. But what was that business about telling people last year that a Democrat can win without the South? I know there was some kind of clarification where you said you were talking arithmetic and not strategy, but that means you would have to pull 70 percent of the electoral votes outside the South to win. That's the kind of math...

WASHINGTON (AP) -- John Kerry built a winning coalition in two Southern states with strong support from women, blacks and Democratic voters hungry for victory in November, according to Associated Press exit polls. Kerry also finished first among white Southern voters Tuesday, but fared better among black voters in Tennessee and Virginia, leaving some question about the strength of his appeal with a crucial Southern voting bloc. Retired nurse Bob Casey, a 68-year-old independent from Memphis, Tenn., said he voted for Wesley Clark, but would vote for President Bush in the general election over Kerry, a Massachusetts senator. "I don't...

BEN Jones, a political expert on the rural southern vote, had some urgent advice to offer Senator John Kerry, the Democratic presidential contender whose nationwide lead is marred by doubts over his ability to win down south. But first, Mr Jones had to sign the t-shirt of an awestruck 12-year-old boy, who had spotted him having lunch at a Virginia roadhouse. After that, he had to sign autographs for three waitresses, four grown-up customers and the manager. For Mr Jones is not just a shrewd and well-connected Democratic theoretician. He also once played Cooter the car mechanic in the television...

It's time again for South Carolina's quadrennial 15 minutes of fame, when candidates discover their Southern accents, their admiration for Jesus, their deep affection for grits and, with luck, a possible genetic link to Nat Turner. Time, too, to dust off the camera-ready cast of local characters as the media descend. There's Huntin' Dude, who drives a pickup with a gun rack and enjoys an occasional chaw. There's Gap-Toothed Dude, the not-too-bright boy whose Diddy's Grandiddy fought in the War of Northern Aggression and who'll give up his gun and rebel flag just as soon as the satellite trucks trundle...

The Other White Flight Can Democrats ever regain the support of Southern whites? BY KEVIN GRIFFIS Carlton Sparks is the reason the GOP has a stranglehold on the South. With his wife Cindi and their 17-year-old son Andrew, he lives in a tan, one-story home off a country road surrounded by mountains. His kitchen walls are wood-paneled, covered with Cracker Barrel-style knickknacks and a pair of decorative, cloth bouquet hangings. Sparks, 49, makes a good living for a resident of Blairsville, GA. He pulls in more than $45,000 a year from Blue Ridge Mountain Electric Membership Corporation, where he works...

<p>January 10, 2004 -- WASHINGTON - Men, evangelicals and rural voters are supporting President Bush by big margins at the start of this election year, while traditionally Democratic-leaning groups such as women have more divided loyalties, an Associated Press poll found. More people say they will definitely vote for Bush's re-election, 41 percent, than say they will definitely vote against him, 33 percent, according to the poll conducted by Ipsos-Public Affairs.</p>

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Bolstered by lopsided backing from core supporters, President Bush is in a stronger position with voters than his father or Bill Clinton were at the same stage of their re-election bids, an Associated Press poll found. Men, evangelicals and rural voters are supporting Bush by big margins at the start of this election year, while traditionally Democratic-leaning groups such as women have more divided loyalties, according to the poll. The public's growing confidence in the economy is helping boost Bush's standing as well. More people say they will definitely vote for Bush's re-election, 41 percent, than say...

Why Can’t Bubba Vote Democrat? by Allen Snyder OpEdNews.Com ‘Bubba’, you may recall, is the generic name for the guy Democratic presidential contender Howard Dean appealed to; the blue-collar white guy with the pick-up, Confederate Flag (if he’s a Southerner – the North has its Bubbas, too), gun rack, spit cup, NASCAR ball cap, ‘I Pledge to One Nation Under God’ bumper sticker, and big chip on his shoulder. It’s false that people who like NASCAR, Confederate flags, and guns are Bubbas and, being a professional critical thinker, I see the gross overgeneralization involved in saying so. Instead, we’ll say...

Southern discomfort Sunday, December 28th, 2003 A few weeks ago at a ritzy fund-raiser for the Committee to Protect Journalists, my wife, Lisa, was introduced to a man named Steven Isenberg.Isenberg was once Mayor John Lindsay's chief of staff. Later, he was the publisher of Newsday. Now he teaches literature at the University of Texas in Austin.That gave them something in common: Lisa is a graduate of the University of Texas."Are you from Texas?" he asked."No. I'm a Louisianan."And he said: "Well, you're the cleanest one I've ever met."Reading Howard Dean's Christmas Eve interview in The Boston Globe reminded me...

Dateline Vermont...The Dean campaign admitted today that Howard Dean is not only a metrosexual but is also a bigot. "I'm seeking the southern bigot vote." admitted Dean, "and people need to understand that I'm a bigot just like other southerners" Capitalizing on bigotry may be a risky political move however, many experts are unsure just how this will play out in the general election. "While Dean has been solicitous of Reverend Sharpton....the black vote is not an absolute certainty at this point," says Harvard professor, Shirley Froid, "Many blacks have announced they plan to vote for Bill Clinton in the...

True Grits Tour General Wes Clark announced Friday he will lead a "True Grits Tour" through the South, starting Monday, December 29th. To demonstrate his strength in the region, Clark will travel to states across the South, discussing our nation's safety and security. "Wes Clark has the true grit to take on George W. Bush in the South," said National Press Secretary Bill Buck. Departing after a morning grits send-off from Little Rock, General Clark will begin his eight-state, barnstorming blitz in Jackson, Mississippi. He will continue on to Baton Rouge, New Orleans, Birmingham, Pensacola, and end the day in...

There you go again, Ho-ward. For the second time in as many months, Democratic presidential hopeful Howard Dean has sparked a controversy, this time with a veiled dig at Southerners. In an interview Thursday with Katie Couric on "The Today Show," he took a poke at southerners in general, and Republicans in particular. "(Republicans) used issues like guns, prayer in school, gay rights, abortion rights - all these divisive issues," Dean told his television interviewer. "What I'm going to say to voters everywhere, but particularly Southern voters is, 'Look, we're going to have to disagree on some of these issues.'"...

BOBBY JINDAL'S DEFEAT in the Louisiana governor's race Saturday is a bigger loss for Republicans than just an office they've held for eight years. For now, it denies the party an impressive new national figure, a 32-year-old Indian-American who's destined to be a political star sometime--but not yet. Why did Jindal lose after leading his Democratic opponent, Kathleen Blanco, in statewide polls in the weeks before the election? In a word, race. What occurred was the "Wilder effect," named after the black Virginia governor elected in 1989. Wilder, a Democrat, polled well, then won narrowly. Many white voters, it turned...

Watching politicians court the Bubba vote will make this political season worth the price of admission. Male rednecks are the new soccer moms, according to presidential campaign strategists. Pundits believe this maligned and misunderstood voter subgroup — more politely dubbed NASCAR Dads — holds the key to winning vital Southern states. They may even move the needle in places like Michigan, where redneck roots run deep. Spotters will be looking for pickup trucks instead of minivans this time around. Witness the recent battle between Democratic presidential contestants Howard Dean and Dick Gephardt over their Bubba credentials. Dean claims he can...