Question about regional politics

[XemaSab]

There's currently another thread about how Northeasterners aren't viable in the South.

What are the Southern issues that make Yankees unpalatable? Is race still a major issue, or has the major issue shifted to religion? Or is this just an anti-southern stereotype?

Why are we ailing so badly in the West as well? Specifically the rural west between the Great Plains and the coastal states? What are the issues here that the Democrats are not connecting with the voters on?

[unblock]

1. by and large, it's not about issues.

it's about feeling like you can relate to the candidate and that the candidate can relate to you.

the irresponsible american media have degraded electoral politics to the point where issues are nearly irrelevant, and are only relevant to the extent that they provide catch-phrases that can bolster or tarnish a candidate's "character".

people today would vote for a monster they this they can relate to over a hero they can't.

wait, i think maybe they just did....

[GreenPartyVoter]

2. I would think a poor southerner would have as much trouble connecting

to a rich fellow southerner as they would to a rich northerner?

:shrug:

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[unblock]

3. but a rich southerner could fake it better

[GreenPartyVoter]

4. Apparently

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[XemaSab]

5. What about Ross Perot?

He's rich, and he did okay in the South, no?

Also Dubya's rich, and he's not a Southerner, but the South seemed to like him fine.

Clinton was a poor Southerner, and he won some Southern states, but lost most of them.

[jarab]

6. Clinton was not a "poor Southerner" when he won the Presidency.

And, imo, he was never very poor by most definitions. And, yes, I do know "poor" when I see it..
...O...

[XemaSab]

7. Clinton

certainly didn't come from a background of affluence like many other politicians.

Politicians certainly aren't poor by the time they seek the presidency, but I think how they grow up and what they do while growing up is important.

[dsc]

11. both Perot and Clinton

grew up in very modest circumstances. Clinton's mother was a single working mom in an era where that was pretty rare. Even upon his election he was hardly wealthy. Perot was also a self made man.

[trezic]

8. It's a question of trust

Southern liberals (that's kind of an oxymoron isn't it?) have strong doubts about any Northeastern Democrat when it comes to national defense. I came pretty close to voting for no presidential candidate this year after Kerry's irresponsible comments about setting a deadline for withdrawals from Iraq. Incidentally, national defense is also part of the reason Catholics are leaving the party.

[XemaSab]

12. Why are northeastern liberals

seen as soft on defense?

[trezic]

18. Seen as?

The center of virtually all antiwar opposition in American history has been New England. The sole exception was the Spanish-American War, when it was actually Southerners rebelling against Yankee imperialism.

The problem began with the opposition to Vietnam and crystallized with the purging of Southern committee chairs in the 70s. Over the years, speaking as a Democrat, it is rare that any practical foreign policy positions are put forth by this party. I frequently feel that Henry Wallace has been resurrected for all the vague talk of peace and internationalism.

Northern liberals are seen to have left the country in the lurch during a war. The celebration of traitors like Tom Hayden by a Democratic president only made Southerners more certain that the Democratic Party was out of step with them when it came to national defense.

[leyton]

9. It's about values and patriotism. Here's a great article.

It's implied in the southern accent - if I hear a southern accent I immediately conjure up an image of a southern gentleman who is an upstanding member of his church, who knows how to treat people with respect, and a general common sense attitude. (I think most Southerners would probably add something about conservative politics there.) Basically, I hear the voice of someone who probably values the same things I do and therefore someone who I want in public office. It's a stereotype, unfortunately, but it's how it works.

Also, there is a culture in the South of what I heard referred to once as 'martial patriotism'. People almost applaud the war in Iraq; I know guys who would love to put on a uniform, grab a gun, and ship off to Iraq. (Or Manassas.) This is mirrored by a perceived pacifism from the Northeast.

Heck, there's a great article from the American Prospect on it, if you have several free hours: What's the Matter with Massachusetts?

And I pretty much second everything trezic said.

[XemaSab]

13. Same question I asked above,

Why the militarism in the South, with a percieved pacifism in the north?

On edit: Would this not apply to all democrats, or just northeastern dems?

[leyton]

16. Well, I don't know the full answer.

When teaching about the South's superior military prowess during the civil war, a history teacher told me once that southerners live(d) a more rural lifestyle that involved hunting and such, and possibly that they supplied most of the manpower for various antebellum wars. Whereas northerners lived more often in industrial towns or coastal fishing villages.

But my recollection is fuzzy at best.

[XemaSab]

15. This is an interesting article

This article calls for a movement to the midwest, citing historical precendent. But they also define the midwest as of the same traditional mettle as New England.

I'm also interested in the fact that they say a Southern candidate is no longer viable, however we've still got 40% in the South.

Why did Gore lose Tennessee? He certainly wasn't a northeastern liberal.

[dsc]

10. I think it is largely

that we start at a disadvantage in the South and thus need every advantage we can get. Conversely we start with an advantage in the Northeast and industrial Midwest and thus can cede an advantage or two there.

[XemaSab]

14. What, specifically,

are these advantages and disadvantages in the South versus the northeast or midwest?

[dsc]

17. I think that every state has some number of people

who vote on the basis of region. Thus a southerner would have an advantage of a northerner running in the south. As to what advantages we have in the north it is issues vs in the south.