Letters to the Editor
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There's probably more to this....
Schaller doesn't break things down by region. I would guess that the "white boy" factor varies by union membership and socioeconomic status. In other words, what Dems really lose is the Southeast and parts of the Midwest & West. The Black vote is a compensation in the South. Places like Iowa or Wyoming are more difficult (and also much less rich in votes).
As a white guy with a PhD and Midwestern blue collar roots, I can say that the Dems lost a lot of the white guys with civil rights and this is more acute in the South where Unions are non-existent and people are willing to support neo-feudal social systems if they can feel that they're still oppressing people who don't look like them (I used to live in Atlanta and this sums up even much of the "new South", which isn't that "new" or moderate; it's neo=-Feudalism is one reason why the South is a long way from transcending long held ways of life and voting).
The trouble with not courting the Bubbas is also failing to to really address blue collar issues. Liberals (meaning people with college degrees) have been distancing themselves from labor issues since the 50s. The Jimmy Hoffas of this world tended to make people forget the Walter Reuethers and liberalism has veered ever toward middle class issues, with often patronizing embraces of minorities. The women's movement failed as a broad based economic movement, even though many women in the pink collar ghettos were happy to join--abortion and what to do with lesbians took the stage away from more basic issues (I'm pro-choice and gay, but I'm not blind to what a difference emphasis and infighting make). The environmentalists have consistently ignored poor and working class people, even though they bear a much greater burden of pollution. And these are just a few of the liberal interest groups... The Dems and the progressive movement, generally, needs to look at the big picture and occasionally pound the heads of their interest group compadres. Yes, we can probably forget the hard core Bubbas, but we can't forget what we should stand for, and that will help in the places where the Dems have hope.