Free Republic

Much has changed since Ben's Chili Bowl opened nearly 50 years ago on a bustling D.C. strip known as America's Black Broadway for its thriving black-owned shops and theaters. Back then, the red-and-white diner was a popular hangout for black bankers, doctors and blue-collar workers who lived and worked along U Street in Northwest. Even jazz greats Duke Ellington and Ella Fitzgerald could be found devouring chili half-smokes and milkshakes after performing at nearby clubs. Now, on some days, the crowd at the D.C. landmark is mostly white, reflecting a neighborhood metamorphosis that has brought in high-end condominiums and businesses...

The Census Bureau's mid-decade population estimate shows definitively that the American political center of gravity has shifted to the South and West. Those states are now as politically dominant as the Northeast and Midwest were in 1940.That trend will accelerate when the 435 House seats are reapportioned after the full decennial census in 2010. Texas and Florida are expected to gain three seats each. Nevada, Arizona and Utah are likely to gain a seat. New York and Ohio are likely to lose two each, and Iowa, Pennsylvania and Massachusetts will also lose. The exception to growth in the South was...

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Population shifts caused by the exodus of hurricane victims from the Gulf Coast could have ripple effects for years to come in Louisiana political races and perhaps beyond. How big depends on how many people stay away, which ones stay away and where they end up putting down roots. The early thinking is that the evacuees least likely to return to their homes in Louisiana may be the poorest -- and thus, Democrats for the most part. That would hurt the party in a state where Republicans already were making inroads. If the lion's share of those...