9/24: SPR: GOP return to power could be swift

Southern Political Report: Matt Towery: GOP return to power could be swift

"The D.C. pundits think they have it nailed. Sure President Obama and the Democrats have slipped from their mighty post-election high approval ratings. But the Republicans have no message and no candidates, and are a party that has allowed itself to become marginalized because of an overreliance on the support of Southern whites.

"Wrong.

"For starters, no Republican has a prayer of capturing the White House without running the table of some large Southern states. Florida, Virginia and North Carolina all went for George W. Bush in 2004 and then for Barack Obama four years later. Recapture these states, and a Republican nominee is halfway to winning in 2012. So dismissing the importance of Southern support for the GOP is misguided analysis. The region is their base, and no party wins without first holding its base." More

Also in the South:

ALABAMA: State records to be searchable online beginning October 1

ARKANSAS: "F" given to Arkansas for economic opportunity on new CFED scorecard

FLORIDA: New elections controversy in Florida -- monopoly of voting machines

GEORGIA: State's physician-congressmen lead the anti-czar campaign

KENTUCKY: Power plant must be re-evaluated, says EPA

LOUISIANA: Gambling revenue down only by 1.3% in Louisiana

MISSISSIPPI: State leaders battle over Medicaid

NORTH CAROLINA: Top ten list of nanotech states now includes North Carolina

SOUTH CAROLINA: Census shows $1.8 billion is buying power of illegal immigrants in SC

TENNESSEE: ATF tells gun dealers to ignore Tennessee state law

VIRGINIA: Sen. Mark Warner urges action on health care

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