I've long wondered why the Democratic party has been unwilling to pursue economic messages in the South. The aura of invincibility that the GOP has fostered in the South has never been that deep. Consider that Newt Gingrich himself nearly lost a House race in the late 80s due to a populist backlash after a plant closing.

Saying 'me too' is never a path to winning elections.

While I wish the author of this article was correct, but I'm just not buying it. I grew up in the South, around many wonderful, progressive, intelligent, talented classmates--nearly all of whom left at the earliest opportunity, just like I did (no, I'm not calling myself any of those things). The people we thought of as backward and ignorant, they all stayed.

Which brings up the problem--geographic mobility has hampered the process of change from within. In earlier decades, I might have stayed and fought. But you get one life, and life it too short to stay in Dixie. Some of the worst South-bashing you'll ever hear comes from people like me, who grew up there and got out.

Maybe if all of these trends Moser talks about continue--immigration, changing of young white southerners, influx or more people from elsewhere--Democrats could talk about picking off Virginia or Florida (which most Southerners I've known do not consider a Southern state--it's south of the South). But probably not for a few election cycles.

On the bright side, I have childhood friends all over the country.

Almost no one in the middle class in the Triangle NC is from NC. They are transplants. And next year or the year after they will move somewhere else. So the idea that everyone is either an enlightened sheriff Andy of Mayberry or the drunk bigot in his jail, is woefully wrong. We have the highest percapita incidence of post graduate degrees in the country. We have thousands of non white technical professionals and two Mosques.

Secondly, Dems can't catch a break here. Kay Hagen, a Dem running against incumbent Libbie Dole is in 2nd place even though Dole isn't liked by her own party and no one nowhere can come up with a single goddamn thing Dole has ever done, good or bad. Similarly for gov, Bev Purdue the Dem Lt Gov is running against Charlotte mayor, GOP Pat McCrory and it's a dead heat even though Purdue is the Lt Gov already and both houses of the state legislature are Democrat.

BTW Obama will be in Raleigh tomorrow.

I think there are plenty of progressives in the South. Unfortunately they are all concentrated in the urban areas or in college towns. New Orleans, Atlanta, Baton Rouge, Louisville, are all nice places populated with plenty of arugula eating Terry Gross fans.

I don't think it will take much more than a gentle nudge -- presaged by the theme music to All Things Considered -- to get the rest of the South into IPA drinking, soccer watching Bhangra dancers.

OK, so the bhangra bit might be a stretch, but I bet a couple of minutes of Punjabi MC before racetime at Darlington is enough to Bubba into a Rubba.

Democrats have proven time and again that they have a single strategy to prevail: by default.

Anything which deviates from The Default Strategy is - as Nancy Pelosi says with neither conscience nor consequence - off the table.

There is a reason for this, and it doesn't involve Karl Rove or FOX News. It's because gutless Democrats are outnumbered only by corrupt Democrats.

Anyone who seriously expects a government of millionaires to serve the interests of the public - or even subscribe to the extinct concept of "public" - is living in a fantasy world. Especially at this painfully late date.

Unless one happens to be a Wall Street huckster agitating for immediate gratification (redundant, I know), Democrats do not give a damn what the moronic electorate wants, believes or expects.

Here's an idea for the compulsive masturbaters in the business of proscribing winning strategies for the DNC: The next time you start a book, essay or conversation with the words HOW DEMOCRATS CAN, just stop right there and, for God's sake, spare us all from this malignant charade. Instead, start off with WHY DEMOCRATS WON'T and then follow the kickoff to its logical end. If you don't end at oligarchy or class war, see a neurologist.

Let's just surrender; not the election, let's surrender the Civil War. Let's just kick the South out of the Union and improve our nation and the quality of our Presidents in one fell swoop. We will still have an immigration problem, but it will be white kids trying to get to a less racist and less oppressive place who will be sneaking across the Mason-Dixon line. I wonder how long the South will last once they lose all those subsidies from the 'immoral' coasties?

I don't care if you hail from the South, East, North, or West, there is only one question for America: How has the last eight years been working for you? If you like the status quo, go for McCain, you're in for four more. If you don't, vote for Obama.

Please change that RIP to RIH (rot in hell). Not even sure that is good enough for them.

As a resident of Atlanta, Georgia (22 years), I do appreciate this analysis that begins to explore the complexities of the southern U.S. Each southern state is unique in its own right, but when you look at the region as a whole it is difficult to deny the profound demographic shifts that will impact future voting patterns. It may be true that people are moving to the South just temporarily, I don't know. My limited observations show me people have made the decision to "settle" in the South - at least until retirement age. There's no reason to move: The job opps are no better anywhere else, and the dollar stretches more in the South.

BTW: A "bonus" for Democrats in this election is the focus on optimizing the African American vote through extensive voter registration drives. I went to an organizing meeting this weekend for the Obama campaign and was shocked to learn how many people in my neck of Fulton county who were not registered - even now!!! I suspect the registration drives will also impact the trends noted in the article. (Also: On DailyKos I saw the figures for voter registration in Fla-hugely different state from Georgia, but same pattern: AA and Latino regs outpacing whites/Democratic regs outpacing Republican).