Whistling Past Dixie: How Democrats Can Win Without the South

I'm not Machiavelli on this topic... the South is part of the United States of America. If you don't like it, work to change it... and that work means battling Republicans in the realm of ideas. Keep in mind that while I'm only 44, the desegregation and busing fights were in my lifetime and many of the egregious racist acts were just before I was born. MLK, Jr. was killed when I was 7. As a kid, the N word was routinely uttered among my relatives and neighbors. At age 6 I wasn't allowed to play with black kids anymore. The changes in the South in a generation are tremendous and will become even more pronounced as people my parents and grandparents age die off. I'm not willing to write off or marginalize a whole generation of Southerners. The struggle in recent years is the attempt by Repubs to replace the ageing crackers that put them in power and Dems need to be there to show there is a better way. Brave Democrats passed the Civil Rights Act knowing it would politically harm their party but also knowing it was the right thing to do for the country. Working to lose by only 8% instead of ignoring the South and losing by 15% may be harmful to the short-term political interests of Democrats, but I'm convinced it is best for the country and will pay off for Dems in the long-term... and it is just the right thing to do and sometimes doing what's right is more important than what's politically expedient.

 

I'm glad you want to marginalize the South, that's very good of you. Hopefully the North can be continually marignalized as the degenerate region of the country it is.

 

Blah blah blah, the South is backwards.

Blah blah blah, they go to church.

Blah blah blah, some of them live in the country.

Seems like there is some South bashing in this thread.

Seems like r35352 has something against the South. Rural people are bad now? People that are traditional need to be marginalized? If someone thinks differently than you, they're backwards?

I'm slightly offended by these opinions that everyone in the South is backwards. I'm live in the South, I'm highly educated, work for a fortune 50 technology company, have a good family. Some of my family lives in the country...heck, my inlaws are actual farmers and live in rural South. They are all good people with good strong beliefs. They value their family, their spirituality, their hard work...this notion that those values are ass backwards or should be marginalized seems extremely disappointing. Sure there are some folks that don't get educated. Sure there are some that are racist. But they are no means the majority.

So get off your high horse. There are problems in the North just as there are problems in the South. Neither needs to be marginalized. Both are important parts of this country.

Somehow having banking centers and Wall Street makes everyone from the North better. Like the South has nothing important. Jeez. I don't understand comments like that.

Heck...the South has Disney World...the freaking happiest place on the freaking Earth. So now maybe the South is way better since we have the happiest place on earth.

The oil capitol is in the South...wooo...we control the oil....wooo!

NASA is here...we launch Space Shuttles...we must be better...wooo!

Go South!

Wooo!

See how idiotic comments like that sound?

Whatever...Republican or Democrat...its time we get someone that can make inroads in both places...the North, South, East, West.

It takes all regions of this country to make this country work...none of them should be marginalized.

 

I agree w/ this post.

Bro, you are wasting your breath though. You can't argue with Northerners.