Non-Southern strategy
Tom Schaller, author of Whistling Past Dixie: How Democrats Can Win Without the South, is blogging at TPMCafe.
His two posts - one here and the other here - make a case for why Democrats should focus on gaining a majority in Congress from Midwest and the Interior West before focusing on changing hearts and minds in the Republican-heavy South.
He writes:
To start with the South is to advocate reaching past more proximate, more ripened fruits. It is precisely the strategy Karl Rove would love for Democrats to adopt, for it is the surest way to allow the Republicans’ “rolling realignment,” as Rove calls it, to continue rolling forward.
Schaller puts a lot on the table. While most Southern progressives may not endorse his views, they are worth exploring.
posted by Bob Davis, Editor of The Anniston Star @ 9:36 AM
1 comments
1 Comments:
The Democratic strategy that Karl Rove loves is the approach of dismissing religious and social traditionalists and instead focusing on upscale and secular voters. Republican propagandists adore Democrats who believe that the party values are defined by unwavering support of abortion rights and gay marriage. Perceptions that Democrats only care about secularism and social liberalism are a major obstacle to not only winning the South but also a large share of Middle America.
Democrats need to stress economic populism and become defined once again as the party of working families. Social traditionalist and religious voters need to be welcomed into the Democratic Party. It is imperative that the Democratic Party allow a diversity of opinion on the social issues while defining ourselves clearly as the party of the working and middle class. Many social conservatives are more in line with Democrats on economic issues and the role of government. The progressive obsession with things like abortion, gay marriage, gun control and keeping religion out of the public sphere has driven these voters into the arms of the Republican Party.
At present, we have two moderate Democrats running for the U.S. Senate in the South - Harold Ford of Tenneseee and Jim Webb of Virgnia running even with their Republican opponents. That is proof that Democrats can still be viable in the South with the right message. As a Southerner, I am offended by Schaller's bigoted attempt to disenfranchise the South and think that he shows a true ignorance of not only our region but most of America as well.
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