CLIOPATRIA: A Group Blog
A New Duckhunter's Guide for Democrats
Thomas Schaller makes some mighty good points and provides some interesting info in questioning the Democrats' need for a "southern strategy." He asks whether it is finally time for them to quit wasting their time, with apologies to old Barry G., "hunting where the ducks aren't" and concentrate on expanding their bi-coastal base inland by turning the already "purple" Midwest totally "blue."
Citing Democratic congressional gains outside the South since 2004, Schaller sees an opportunity for the Dems to "build a national majority" that would enable them to call off their courtship of "an encircled and no longer triumphant Southern minority." Here Schaller seems largely to overlook southern blacks,who are consistently the nation's most ardently Democratic voters, but under his strategy of writing off the South, would become a truly "encircled minority." No matter how you slice it, having a sympathetic congressional ear in Indiana isn't the same as having one who knows firsthand what going on in Georgia or Alabama. Not only has Schaller's perception of newfound Democratic strength yet to be validated in a presidential race, but two years of Democratic control on Captiol Hill will give us a much better idea of how permanent the party's congressional gains really are. If you are a certifiable glutton for punishment, you can read an expanded version of this post over at Cobbloviate.
- More Civil Wars by Nathanael D. Robinson (November 14, 2006 at 6:14 PM)
- Re: More Civil Wars by Jonathan Dresner (November 15, 2006 at 12:06 AM)
- Democrat governors and senators in the South by David M Fahey (November 14, 2006 at 8:07 PM)
- Dems need to learn how to communicate by John Richard Clark (November 15, 2006 at 12:31 PM)
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