The "used to haves"

Today's issue of The New York Times looks at something beyond the "haves" and the "have nots" in America - - the "used to haves." They're people like highlighted in this "American Album" story in small-town Tennessee who used to have good jobs and now are just having to make do.

Left behind were thousands of people who once had a piece of the American middle class, including Mr. Rackley. The million-square-foot factory squats empty in a green pasture, like an elephant in the death field. The only reminder of Don Rackley’s 28 years there are the salt and pepper shakers collecting dust on the cafeteria table where he used to eat lunch.

And later :

Mondays at the unemployment office are like an Irish wake: middle-aged people telling worn-out stories, laughing through their circumstance. The place has an Orwellian name: Tennessee Career Center. James Hash, standing in line with a ball cap pulled over his eyes, put it like this: “Here you are standing in an employment line at my age. Nobody wants you no more.”

“You’re left out. You’re not American no more.”

"The Strangest Senate Race of the Year"

"The strangest Senate race of the year" is how the October 30th issue of The New Yorker describes the Virginia contest pitting incumbent Sen. George Allen against former Secretary of the Navy James Webb.

In an article entitled "Southern Discomfort," journalist Peter Boyer recaps the twists and turn by which Webb, a political novice, became a serious rival for a Senate seat held by a conservative incumbent with presidential aspirations. Boyer argues that the competitiveness of the race owes less to Webb's political skills than to a shift in Virginia's political climate and Allen's own mistakes.

What makes Boyer's piece particularly interesting is his extended discussion of Webb's political evolution. A native Southerner and decorated military veteran, Webb moved from the Democratic Party to the GOP in response to his experiences in Vietnam and the anti-war, anti-Southern turn of the Democratic Party. Yet the war in Iraq caused Webb to reevaluate his beliefs and gravitate back towards the Democratic Party. In many ways, Webb's political evolution mirrors the South's and offers lessons on how progressives can reconnect with the region's voters.

Conference ahead on leadership, future

Take a look at this coming conference:

Communities, Leadership and the Future of the South is the title of an upcoming conference sponsored by the University of Arkansas Clinton School of Public Service and the Center for the Study of Southern Culture at the University of Mississippi. The event will take place in Little Rock from November 1-3, 2006. Among the topics that will be explored are: the Idea of Community in the South, Economic Development in Communities, and Expanding the Role of Community Philanthropy. Featured speakers include Jim Clinton, Executive Director of the Southern Growth Policies Board and William Winter, former Governor of Mississippi. Registration is free, but pre-registration is encouraged.

Bible Based Economics

This week, The Raleigh News and Observer reports on an alternate economic model being promoted by a variety of religious congregations across the country. One of the Better South issues is Rethinking faith and the South. The movement, often called “Sabbath Economics,” focuses on biblical teachings that encourage giving to the poor as an alternative to self-serving aspects of capitalism. Practitioners of the model have begun to invest their money in financial programs and organizations that will aid the poor.

"Churches have ignored the central role that the economy plays in the Bible," said Ched Myers, a California activist who is one of the leaders in the Sabbath Economics initiative. "In Scriptures, the world has material abundance. The only requirement is that we constrain ourselves so it's fairly distributed."

The idea of “Sabbath Economics” has proved popular among many denominations and groups in North Carolina.

"Churches have ignored the central role that the economy plays in the Bible," said Ched Myers, a California activist who is one of the leaders in the Sabbath Economics initiative. "In Scriptures, the world has material abundance. The only requirement is that we constrain ourselves so it's fairly distributed."

"When we put our money where our mouth is, we're having a big impact in bringing about the reign of God here on Earth," said the Rev. Heather McCain, the team leader on this issue and a vicar at the Episcopal Church of the Holy Spirit in Greensboro

Whether the economic model is ultimately viable and effective, it is encouraging to see new ideas and renewed social consciousness in the national and southern religious community.

"When we put our money where our mouth is, we're having a big impact in bringing about the reign of God here on Earth," said the Rev. Heather McCain, the team leader on this issue and a vicar at the Episcopal Church of the Holy Spirit in Greensboro. "If we get out of our greedy accumulative culture and get back to the important things -- human beings -- the vision of enough for everyone is really beautiful and right."

Southerners and Iraq

This Nation magazine online headline stood out this morning: The South Changes Course.

The item reports on an Institute for Southern Studies and the School of Public and International Affairs at North Carolina State University poll released earlier this month.

It found:

57% of Southerners believe the U.S. "should have stayed out of Iraq," compared to 44% who think the U.S. "did the right thing" by taking military action. Nationally, 58% of the public believes the U.S. should have stayed out and 43% now agree with military action.

Not surprising considering the significant share of Southern soldiers fighting and dying in Iraq.

Weekly Southern news roundup

Here's a roundup of news from the past week from each Southern state that you might find interesting:

AL: Alabama planning first alligator hunt
Prompted in part by reports of alligators further inland than is natural, Alabama's Conservation Advisory Board voted unanimously to institute the state's first alligator hunt. The hunt will take place for a week during late August 2007.

AR: Huckabee's 'F' not a failure on the campaign trail
Despite the Cato Institute's 'F' rating of Governor Mike Huckabee's handling of budget and fiscal matters, political scientists say that it will not hurt his chances in the November election. A Huckabee spokeswoman responded, "We give the Cato Institute an 'F' for failing to get accurate information." Missouri Governor Matt Blunt was the only governor to receive an 'A' rating from the think-tank.

FL: Nationwide's 72 percent tax hike to be denied
Homeowners in Florida can rest assured that Nationwide's requested 72 percent hike in property insurance rates will be denied by the Florida Office of Insurance Regulation. In some areas the hike would be as little as 3.5 percent, but in others it would near 180 percent. Office Commissioner Kevin McCarty says, "That's just not sustainable for people to pay."

GA: Politicians slam letter to voters
Last week, the Georgia State Election Board mailed about 200,000 letters to Georgia voters suggesting that a photo ID was required at the polls on November 7. The letters were sent after a judge struck down the state's new photo ID requirement--Rep. John Lewis of Atlanta was joined by Sen. Barak Obama (D-Illinois) and Chris Dodd (D-Connecticut) in requesting a federal investigation of the matter in a letter to U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzalez.

KY: Foes assail Oldham smoking-ban plan
Oldham County is currently debating a plan that would ban smoking in public buildings and require businesses to post no smoking signs. Critics cite the harshness of the plan's consequences and the repercussions on smoking outside of buildings.

LA: Natural selection
Orleans Parish is debating phasing out magnet schools. Currently the parish operates 12 magnet schools that characteristically maintain high-achieving students. Critics argue the system is too exclusionary.

MS: Masons struggle with racial separation
Freemasons across the south have become increasingly self-segregating in the past few years. The fraternal order operates a "separate-but-supposedly-equal" system with Grand Lodges being predominantly white and Prince Hall lodges being predominantly black.

NC: Groups call for tax reforms
The Center for Emerging Issues, the subject of a post last week, recently organized a forum at Winston-Salem State University to examine the tax structure within North Carolina. Like many southern states, North Carolina's tax structure does not take full advantage of its tax base, collecting only about 27 percent of potential revenue.

SC: New longleaf forests to sprout from grants
The Conservation Reserve Program plans on paying landowners to plant and maintain longleaf pine forests in S.C. The longleaf pine hasn't seen widespread growth in the south since the early 1900s when loggers began planting the cheaper loblolly pines.

TN: $$ sought for spillway at Reelfoot
The dam that holds Tennessee's largest natural lake is deteriorating quickly, but permit issues and environmental concerns have hampered repair or expansion. The state DOT is seeking $12 million to replace the current spillway.

VA: Ballot measure would offer incentive in blight area
In November, Virginians will vote on whether or not to offer incentives to builders who chose to develop designated depressed areas. Incentives to builders who rehabilitate or conserve existing structures could receive up to a 50 percent tax break.

A Different Kind of Drug Policy in Chesapeake, VA

Chesapeake joined five other cities in Virginia's Hampton Roads region at the end of the summer in an experimental change in its handling of parole violations by nonviolent drug offenders. The Virginian Pilot checks in this week and finds a small but growing alternative to the usual punitive means of dealing with the area's drug users.

The Chesapeake program brings offenders before the drug court once a week as they progress through a three part program involving counseling, a required job search, and strict monitoring with sanctions for relapses. The drug court trades the traditional adversarial approach in favor of a cooperative process that brings the justice system together with the Department of Rehabilitative Services and community groups to encourage and enable recovery.

The various groups can assist, if needed. In fact, the judges often ask a client during court, "is there anything we can do to help you?"

As the Hampton Roads areas grow- Chesapeake is already the third most populated city in the Commonwealth- city leaders and officials are going to have to think creatively about dealing effectively with nonviolent crime, which the Circuit Court judges behind the program acknowledge. The openmindedness of the judges and their community partners are an encouraging start.

"Drugs cause such horrendous problems," Judge Goodwyn said. "I felt like we had to do something. I had heard a lot of positive information about drug court and thought it was worth looking into."

Two Carolina cities give initial OK on smoking ban

This week, Columbia, S.C. and Charlotte, N.C. passed initial votes to ban smoking in bars and restaurants in the Carolinas.
In Charlotte, Mecklenburg County commissioners voted to ask the state legislature for approval of the county-wide smoking ban. Last year, Mecklenburg County became the first in the state to request a ban, but Raleigh rejected the proposal. Today, The Charlotte Observer published a county health department study of air quality in Charlotte-area bars and restaurants.

Nonsmoking sections in Mecklenburg County bars and restaurants have air quality that is five times worse on average than in smoke-free restaurants.

On Tuesday, Columbia city council voted 4-2 to enact a complete smoking ban in bars and restaurants. Bar owners are now trying to convince council members to exempt bars before the council votes to finalize the ban next month.

“If you believe in the fact that this is a health issue ... you’ve got to treat all workplaces the same,” Council member Tameika Issac Devine said. “Whether it’s a bar or a restaurant.”

Currently Sullivan's Island, S.C. is the only city in the Carolinas with a smoking ban in bars and restaurants.

Overlooked Allies?

The Richmond Times-Dispatch carries a story this morning on yesterday's announcement from the U.S. Dept. of the Interior that the federal government will be kicking in $2 mil. to help the Civil War Preservation Trust pay off its $12 mil. recent acquisition of the Slaughter Pen Farm near Fredericksburg, along the Tidewater Trail.

Virginia's close proximity to Washington made it home to many of the Civil War's major battles a century and a half ago, and makes it attractive to some of the most aggressive development today (the Virginia Conservation Coaltion recently publicized that at our current rate of development, the same proportion of Virginia will be developed in the next 25 years alone than has been developed in the all the years since the Commonwealth's founding), but as yesterday's grant announcement might indicate, the land's Confederate history could be a key in protecting its future.

The 208-acre area was being marketed as prime territory for developers as recently as December of last year. The CWPT's succcess in securing the property for historical preservation merits a closer look from conservation advocates here in the Commonwealth. At the conference, Virginia House of Delegates Speaker Bill Howell, whose own environmental record is generally pretty dismal, commented:

"preserving sites like the Slaughter Pen Farm is the exact purpose that the legislature had in mind when it inaugurated the [Virginia Civil War Historic Site Preservation Fund] program this spring."

A strange bedfellows alliance, for certain, but federal money for and General Assembly attention to conservation is cause for celebration, whatever the motivation.

An Endangered Road?

Running for 469 miles through the mountains of Virginia and North Carolina, the Blue Ridge Parkway is one of the South's most famous and popular national parks. Yet it also may be one of the South's most endangered public resources.

According to an article in The News & Observer of Raleigh, a lack of funding is causing sections of the parkway to fall into disrepair. Reductions in federal funding have forced the park to leave significant proportions of the maintenance and ranger staffs unfilled. The result: reductions in service and the loss of scenic views as overlooks become overgrown.

At the same time, the parkway's views are threatened by development alongside the park. From a new Wal-Mart in Roanoke, VA, to new residential construction outside of Asheville, NC, development is detracting from the natural beauty the park was built to celebrate.

Florida forests get help from state agency

From Friday's Tallahassee Democrat:
Over 47% of Florida is covered in forest, and is owned by about 300,000 private landowners--200,000 of those owning less than 9 acres each. With 1,200 acres of forest lost each week to development, the Florida Division of Forestry is stepping in to help conserve Florida's large tracts through by helping landowners become more aware of the benefits and opportunities of responsibly managing the state's forests.

The situation today is that those 500 acres that one Floridian owned and managed years ago is now broken down into many smaller parcels owned by different individuals, maybe absentee grandchildren who inherited pieces of Florida acreage.

The initiative, entitled "Your Forest. Managed." tries to help owners understand the financial aspects of everything from using your land to raise wild game, to the ecological benefits of controlled burning.

Florida timberland, even that which is privately owned, is nonetheless critical to purifying our state's water supply, reducing air pollution, supplying habitat for a diverse range of plant life and sheltering some 100 species of animals, threatened, endangered or plentiful enough to hunt.

You might remember that Last month, a federal judge reinstated protection of over 174,000 acres of forest in North Carolina's Pisgah, Nantahala, and Croatan national forests.

NC Panal Examines Dropout Age

The Winston Salem Journal examines the prospect of raising the age of compulsory education from 16 to 18. Because of the changing economy, most drop outs are no longer able to work in the fields or factories for a living wage. North Carolina is one of 28 states that allow students to drop out at the age of 16.

Many teachers are asking why states still allow students to leave school at 16 when a high-school diploma is considered the bare minimum to support a family.

"Just as we established compulsory attendance to the age of 16 or 17 at the beginning of the 20th century, we must now eradicate the idea of 'dropping out' before you achieve your diploma," said Reg Weaver, The NEA's president.

The dropout rate in North Carolina and across the South is often downplayed or ignored. New data suggest that the problem is epidemic.

For years, legislators thought the dropout rate was about 10 percent and concluded that those were "just a few bad apples," Messer said. But when studies compared the number of students starting in ninth grade with the number graduating, the dropout rate turned out to be 30 percent.

High-school reform is pushing this movement, and new studies are challenging official data about the magnitude of the dropout problem. Some studies now conclude that the dropout rate may be as high as 30 percent nationwide, hitting more than 50 percent among blacks and Hispanics. Nearly 65 percent of North Carolina ninth-graders remain in school and graduate four years later, according to recent data from the N.C. Department of Public Instruction.

If the South wants to participate and expand its role in the modern economy then public education must be reformed. Amending the age of compulsory education is a start.

Warner not running for prez

Ex-Virginia governor Mark Warner announced today he would not run for president in 2008.

Warner said:

"This is not a choice that was made based on whether I would win or lose. I can say with complete conviction that—15 months out from the first nomination contests—I feel we would have had as good a shot to be successful as any potential candidate in the field."

According to Steve Elmendorf, the deputy campaign manager for Democrat John Kerry's 2004 presidential campaign:

"Warner would have been, perhaps, the strongest, or certainly one of the strongest candidates, to become the anti-Hillary. This also will help somebody who's looking at that role."

What other Southerners - D's or R's - are viable candidates for '08? Please add your comments.

Meet Better South's John Simpkins

The (Charleston, S.C.) Post and Courier recently published a long profile about John L.S. Simpkins, a co-founder of the Center for a Better South and a professor at the Charleston School of Law.

Not only will you learn about Simpkins' work in Africa through the years, but you'll find out about how he dropped a couple of passes in a high school football game - - one of the few errors he's made. From the piece:

Simpkins writes on occasion of topics related to race, space and place, his extended family, the forbidden fruit - watermelon - in such publications as The Oxford American and The New Republic. His profile of "Boondocks" comic strip creator Aaron McGruder appeared in The New York Times Magazine.

His next piece will deal with fear, and more pointedly a society based on fear: gated communities, bulky SUVs - manifestations against perceived threats. At the same time, he'll touch on race relations in the South, the strange dance, he calls it, of blacks and whites.

"(Blacks and whites) know each other and have these relationships that exist on a separate plane," Simpkins says. "These aren't the friends who you have over for dinner. But they're also not the people with whom you just exchange a hello. It's somewhere in between."

He questions its nature.

"What is to fear from someone who works in your office who essentially has the same experiences, but happens to belong to a different racial group?"

"Think and do" think tank examines emerging issues

The Institute for Emerging Issues out of N.C. State University is no newcomer to the collection of southern think-tanks, the Institute grew out of the Emerging Issues Forum that was established in 1986 by former North Carolina governor, Jim Hunt.

The Institute is a catalyst for innovative public policy through a policy process that rests upon a belief in the importance of authentic deliberation among interested citizens as the basis for effective and moral representative government.

The Institute's online magazine, InnovationOnline, examines issues within N.C. and nationwide. The magazine has a collection of essays and articles as well as blog entries from the Institute's blog. Be sure to take a look at their "Energy and Environment" and "Economic Development" sections.

For more, see BetterSouth's issues.

Extreme democracy makeover

Alabama's state Constitution has a problem. It has several actually. According to Alabama Citizens for Constitutional Reform, which recently met to discuss giving the state a democracy makeover, the document's problems are:

1. It restricts local democracy.

2. It locks in an unfair tax system.

3. It hinders economic development.

4. It limits budget flexibility.

5. It is the longest known constitution in the world.

6. It has undemocratic origins.

The challenge is to inform Alabamians of the problem. The Crimson White, the University of Alabama's student newspaper recently told of one unique way to bring the issue to life.

In addition to setting up an information table at various political events that may take place in the future, ASCR (Alabama Students for Constitutional Reform) will sponsor a 24-hour reading of the Alabama constitution beginning at 8 a.m. on Oct. 24 in front of Reese Phifer Hall.

It's not a sit-in, it's a read-in.

Meet The New (Southern) Boss

Regardless of the outcome of the upcoming elections the Republican members of the U.S. Senate will need to select a new leader. In all likelihood, the position now held by retiring Sen. Bill Frist of Tennessee will go to another Southerner, Kentucky Sen. Mitch McConnell.

A 22-year senate veteran best know for his vehement opposition to campaign finance reform, McConnell is the subject of a profile in the October issue of The Washington Monthly. In "Meet the New Boss," journalists Zachary Roth and Cliff Schecter argue the McConnell's aggressive partisanship and shrewd understanding of legislative procedure will lead to the further polarization of the U.S. Senate.

NY Times Examines Black-Hispanic Divide in South

This week, an article in the New York Times examines the increasingly prevalent conflicts between Southern blacks and Hispanic immigrants. The article focuses on two ministers in South Georgia who have used their faith to overcome social differences.

Blacks here, who had settled into a familiar, if sometimes uneasy, relationship with whites, are now outnumbered by Hispanics. The two groups, who often live and work side by side, compete fiercely for working-class jobs and government resources. By several measures, blacks are already losing ground.

The jobless rate for black men in Georgia is nearly triple that of Hispanic men, labor statistics show. More blacks than Hispanics fail to meet minimum standards in Atkinson County public schools. And many blacks express anguish at being supplanted by immigrants who know little of their history and sometimes treat them with disdain as they fill factory jobs, buy property, open small businesses and scale the economic ladder.

While the article is encouraging in its story of tolerance and cooperation, the region has only just begun to deal with the racial divide created by Hispanic immigrants.

School administrators and sociologists suggest that the gap between blacks and Hispanics in employment and education may stem in part from immigrant parents who push their children harder to succeed in schools and the immigrant zeal to find work, regardless of how much it pays.

Many black adults, who typically have more formal education than new immigrants, seethe at the disparities. In a town where neighborliness is entrenched, blacks and Hispanics often treat one another warily.

Nonetheless, the two men see an avenue for understanding through common experience and faith.

“I believe that rather than be angry or envy those who have came to America and found success, we ought to be learning from them,” Mr. Williams wrote.

As the ministers meandered through their changing neighborhoods one afternoon, they considered taking their friendship to another level by preaching a joint service for their congregations. Though they knew it might never happen, they envisioned Spanish speakers and English speakers, newcomers and long timers’ holding hands and praying beneath the oak trees.

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.

N.C. debates Earned Income Tax Credt- continued

On September 12, we looked at Lt. Governor Beverly Perdue's exchange with state representative Eddie Gooddall about the adoption of a state Earned Income Tax Credit in N.C.

Yesterday's [Raleigh] News and Observer article by Elaine Meija of the Budget and Tax Center discusses the stagnant job market for those without advanced education in N.C., where 1 in 5 workers earns less than $9.12 per hour, and the disproportionate tax burden on the lowest 20 percent of taxpayers.

Paradoxically, poorly paid workers in North Carolina face the highest effective tax rates. In 2003, after adjusting for the federal tax offset, the poorest 20 percent of taxpayers paid 10.9 percent of their incomes to state and local taxes, while the richest 1 percent of taxpayers paid only 6.3 percent.

In N.C., a state EITC would cost the state about $133 million, less than one-tenth of 1 percent of the current state budget.

Clearing the smoke

Following up on Sam's Southern cities weigh effects of smoking ban:

The Star interviewed Lynne Zaris, director of the Coalition for a Tobacco Free Alabama last week.

She was asked, What would you tell someone who claims anti-tobacco laws are bad for their restaurant? Her response:

That the research does not support that theory. In New York, California and Alabama, the figures for net profits one year after implementation of smoke-free ordinances shows either an increase or leveling thereof. Many restaurants save on cleaning and maintenance costs, employee healthcare costs and gain customers who otherwise would not have patronized the restaurant. Since 75 percent of the Alabama adult population (19 years and older) do not smoke, that more than makes up for the customers lost.

Paying dues

A spokesman for a conservative public policy outfit in Alabama visited The Anniston Star the other day. The visitor was pleasant enough. However, his message was blunt: His agency would not lend its full support to tax reform in Alabama, something desperately needed in a state that lays a heavy burden on low-income taxpayers. His reason: Tax reform might mean more taxes for the wealthier of his group’s con-stituents.

Something’s wrong here.

Tax reform is a big wonky word that means different things to different people. What it’s really about is distributing the burden of paying for government fairly. A progressive tax code is rooted in the Biblical admonition that for whom much is given, much is expected.

Taxes are a way to fund essential services. They are like dues one pays to belong to a club. If they don’t get paid, the club or the state government, in this case, will suffer.

Surely, all the constituents in our friend’s conservative public policy organization benefit when government has adequate public safety officers, when schools are fully funded and when the poverty-stricken can rise above their situation, to name just a few benefits.

(For the curious, Alabama Arise nicely frames the reasons for tax reform in Alabama.)

Human-Induced Hurricanes?

ScienceNOW reports on an article in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences this month that shows human-induced global warming is indeed responsible for increased severity of hurricanes. Greenhouse gas emissions have led to warmer ocean temperatures, and these warm waters fuel the power of hurricanes.

Based on their models of temperature incorporating both human-induced and natural change, these scientists found (with 84% certainty) that two-thirds of temperature changes have been caused by human activities.

The surface temperature of the Atlantic has increased in temperature, and this increase is correlated with an increase in the number of severe (category 4 and 5) hurricanes. Not only will hurricanes increase in frequency and severity as temperatures warm, but also increased coastal development in areas of the Southeast will lead to more damage to properties and homes.

Business opportunities abound in South, leader says

The 71-year-old founder of Black Enterprise magazine says if he had to relive his life again, the Northeast wouldn't be where he'd live. He'd target the South because of its business opportunities.

“The South is where you need to be,” [Earl G.] Graves [Sr.] told students at USC’s Moore School of Business, referring to the region’s job growth and friendly small-business environment. “There’s a genuine opportunity here in the South if you’re serious about success.”

Graves, a native of New York, also pushed improvements to education and more workplace diversity in a story published today by The (Columbia, S.C.) State.

“The march toward opportunity ... is in real danger of marching right back into the shadows of disenfranchisement,” Graves said, mentioning shortcomings in public housing and schools, drug laws, manufacturing jobs and immigration policy.

Blogs enliven Georgia politics

As the political climates heat up, so do the political blogs. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution printed its guide to the blogs that are following Georgia politics across the state. Bloggers in the Peach State have taken advantage of the ability for blogs to mobilize grassroots voters, and many of the blogs featured in the article are speckled with targeted campaign ads. The blogs span the gamut of left and right leaning, and feature bloggers from across the state.

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Also, check out this blurb about Virginia's tax-free weekend now that August's tax collections are in from Virginia retailers.

Southern Politics Revisited

The upcoming midterm elections offer an opportunity to analyze the American political landscape, contemplate the challenges confronting the Democratic Party, and reconsider Southern politics. Three recent and worthwhile analyses are the following:

• "The Inside Agitator" by Matt Bai (The New York Times Magazine, 10/1/06) profiles Howard Dean, chair of the Democratic National Committee, and his efforts to introduce a 50-state strategy. Dean's attempts to rebuild state parties in places that Democrats conceded in the past have sparked opposition from party elites. The question, argues Bai, is a philosophical one about how to expand the party. In other words, does expanding the party win elections, or does winning elections expand the party?
  

• A package of stories in The News & Observer of Raleigh (10/1/06) discusses the impact of religion on Southern politics. A recent survey by Baylor University found that 44 percent of Southerners hold an "authoritarian" view of God. This view sees God as being actively involved in the world and punishing the unfaithful or ungodly. That idea raises questions about how progressives can speak meaningfully to Southerners about controversial social issues or questions of economic justice.
  

• An extended essay by longtime political observer E.J. Dionne in The American Prospect (October 2006) discusses five new books dealing with different aspects of progressive politics. Dionne's essay crisply summarizes some of the key debates raging within the Democratic Party. Southerners may be most interested in Dionne's discussion of a new book by University of Maryland professor Thomas Schaller. Schaller argues that Democrats should concede the South and focus instead on the Mountain West.