Washblog

Bill Clinton, Sam Nunn, John Edwards, even Al Gore - these are politicians whose careers were produced by the Democrats' reaction to the Republican "Southern Strategy" of coddling racists to take advantage of the reaction to a time of change in this country. The DLC put forward the idea that The Democratic party, too, should try and placate this belligerent, unpatriotic, Confederacy-Mythologizing minority.

The results were unsurprising - a fairly rapid slide into failure, fear and mediocrity. But the Demographic truth is that we do not need these people. They can be and should be ignored and forgotten but to deride them.

The mystique of their white supremacist culture is waning among working people, who are now nearly as likely to be hip-hop fans as country listeners. Population expansion in the Southeast has been offset by expansion in the West and Southwest, and  even in rapidly-growing Southern states like Virginia, the population is becoming more urbane and less sympathetic to figures like George Allen, who try and drum up Southern parochialism and hatefulness for political advantage. They are increasingly seen as an embarrassment.

And there is the "South Carolina Factor". Many predominantly African-American districts perform fantastically well for Democrats as a percentage of their vote but also have low turnout. Barak Obama ("Obama-Osama" as the bigots like to call him) showed that an increase in African-American turnout can make a big difference in many Southern states.

Likewise, female voters (and feminist voters generally) should become very excited in the event that path seems clear to electing the first woman for the Presidency.

To be fair, John Edwards has identified the possibility of appealing directly to working-class  voters (and economic fairness voters generally) with his message.

But the question will really be laid at the feet of independent and moderate Republican voters: "Do you want the country to serve the sentiments of secessionist bigots or have we finally won the Civil War once and for all?"