We have to cherry pick southern states that are winnable for Kerry

[ringmastery]

We shouldn't write off ALL of the south. We should write off MOST of the south and cherry pick and consolidate are resources in a few places to maximize our potential electoral vote gain. The three southern states we should focus on very strongly are:

Florida - We won it last time. We can win it again.

Virginia - We only lost by 7 points last time. The northern liberal suburbs outside of DC are growing.

Louisiana - very large black population, Kerry can win this state. two dem senators and a dem governor.

Two states that we should consider spending money in if our VP is Edwards, or another popular southern (Brueax, Landrieu, Cleland, etc.)

North Carolina - tough state for Kerry, but MAY be competitive if Edwards is VP, otherwise best to write it off.

Arkansas - again tough state for Kerry, but MAY be competitive with Edwards as VP.

Everything else in the south is hopeless.

[Hoosier Democrat]

1. I've gotta disagree about the South..

The only way Kerry can win a Souther state (even with Edwards on the ticket) would be if Dumbya runs off to Frisco and marries John Ashcroft while wearing a leatherman outfit! (Sorry for THAT image in advance).

Florida, however is different. Florida is Southern only in its location. Demographically, its really a northern state. We won it last time, but I don't think we can win this time. The Banana Republicans will pull out ALL the stops to steal the election again.

We ned to look at some of the other Red states to cherry pick. My choices would be Nevada, Arizona, Ohio, and New Hampshire. West Virginia could also be in play if Kerry doesn't piss off the gun owners like Gore did.

[coloradodem2005]

2. Good assessment.

If we could pull some of these states, especially Florida should be concentrated on. I think people might be sick of Jeb.

As for Virginia, It has never gone blue in recent times. That would be a tough call. Though I would figure that the D.C. suburbs are liberal, considering how liberal D.C. is.

[DMX]

5. Missouri, Missouri, Missouri

I have this strong belief that Missouri should be the state to look out for this election cycle. Winning Missourri in addition to all the Gore states will win the election for the Dems. The state is probably a 52-48 state in favor of the Repubs, which is why I believe with Gephardt on the ticket this state is winnable.

[katieforeman]

13. I still think Edwards would be better choice.

We have to defend Kerry's 19 year voting record. Do we want to defend Gephart's too? There are bound to be contradictions in voting records that long and between Kerry's and Gephart's record. This will help Repubs attack Kerry as flip-flopper. Furthremore, the Republicans could portray them as Washington insiders and career politicians. We need to be sure to consider the negatives as well as the positives.

Also, state of origin is less and less important with today's national media. Gephart didn't win his neighboring state IA this year. Gore didn't win TN in 2000.

Edwards has domonstrated appeal to Moderate republicans and Independents in the primaries. I'm from Oh and people there seem to really like him and trust him.

Edwards is the best campaigner in the party today and has appeal in all of the battleground states.

Edwards is a disciplined campaigner with a short voting record. He brings few if any negatives to the ticket.

If we think ahead, Edwards with 8 years vp experience under his belt would be SUper Candidate in 2012- invincible.

Edwards also has a dedicated following of volunteers and formidable fundraising abilities. He raised over one million $ in the week before Super Tuesday.

Even if he might not win many or any Southern states, he might make some of them contestable- forcing Bush to spend time and resources there.

I really think Edwards is hands down the best choice.

[SaintLouisBlues]

15. Kerry will take MO whoever is on the ticket

The only part of the state that is southern is the Ozarks and Bootheel, but they make up less than 25% of the populace. St. Louis and Kansas City are Midwest and will deliver the Show-Me State!

[carolinayellowdog]

9. VA went blue in 76, 84, 88, and 92

blue is the incumbent party, red the challenger

[MikeG]

3. What we need to do is to split California and NY into ten states each

Then we get eighteen more senators and twenty-seven more electoral votes.

[mojo2004]

8. It doesn't work that way....

there are parts of New York and California that are conservative that we would lose. Dividing up the states could result in some benefit if gerrymandered correctly though.

[carolinayellowdog]

4. TN had a 3 point margin in 2000

and even discounting the native son factor I think it's more winnable for Kerry than VA or NC.

[ringmastery]

6. If Gore couldn't win Tennessee

I don't think there's a chance in hell that Kerry could.

[Robroy]

11. But this time..

TN has a democratic governor that even the republicans like. He's a no nonesense, number-crunching man who's making some tough cuts and hard choices that resonate. Kerry should really embrace Gov Bredesen and criss-cross this state with Bredesen by his side. I believe it would be a winning strategy.

[Hoosier Democrat]

14. That doesn't mean much..

Here in Indiana, we have had Democratic governors since 1988 and a Democratic seator, but that won't translate into anything for Kerry. He'll be lucky to get 42% in Indiana.

[carolinayellowdog]

7. Here's the winnability index in black and white

http://www.fec.gov/pubrec/fe2000/appb.htm
compare TN and VA over 4 elections

[WilliamPitt]

10. One bit of food for thought

If you want Kerry to run for Southern states, he's going to have wing way to the right...which means he'll piss off a lot of people here. Advocating for a Southern Strategy means putting up with a lot of yowling on DU. Not worth it. :)

[carolinayellowdog]

12. Same goes for the mountain West/Great Plains

cherries are AZ, NM, NV, and maybe CO

[MAlibdem]

16. I really dont believe in cherry picking

Gore tried to do it in 2000. I think a better strategy is to run everywhere, and let things fall as they may. Shift resources to focus more on winnable states, but, in order to lead, you have to go everywhere in the country. Make your opponent play defense.