The South Rising - and continuing the 50 state agenda

Recently, on Crooks and Liars, there was a post concerning the Democratic party winning big in 2008 by abandoning the "Red States" in the South.
Do The Democrats need the South in 2008?

My comment on that thread:

Please put away the microscope and look at the bigger picture. Yes, to elect a President, the Democratic party WILL need the South. Suhprise.Suhprise.

The good news is that a LOT of southerners are not the dumbass hicks you might believe we are. And we really do understand how bad Bush has screwed the pooch. And we want to change things badly.The bad news is that a lot of my fellow southerners equate Democrats with weakness on security and Liberals with evil atheists. But that's only because they are forcefed that shit by the msm. When more men like Webb, Feingold, and Edwards get out and spread the real gospel of the Democratic party (i.e. working for the common man) the South will rise up for the Democratic party.

Someone bamboozled all these farmers and blue collar workers into thinking that if they supported the Republican party that it would turn them into millionaires. They are slowly coming around.

Please, oh please don't turn your backs on us now. Not while some of us are imbedded combatants fighting every day to change our fellows' perceptions.

And let's not throw out the very real gains from Howard Dean's 50 state strategy as well. As much as some of the northerners would like to label the South bad and write it off, it's not a strategy that's going to win elections.

Sundog, on the same thread, has this to say about it:

Interesting election game plan, - one with a great deal of Northern stereo typing - , but let's not throw the 50 state strategy out with the bath water. The 50 state strategy gives the Democratic Party legitimacy. It shows that we progressives are willing to give the fight in the most socially conservative of voting districts, both North and South. Many voters in the South vote Republican out of ignorance or think the Democratic Party doesn't care about them. There are many minorities here and there are many pockets of rural poverty. In the past, it was frustrating for hard working progressives who knew the true nature of the political battles in the South not to get the needed support from the main party. Dean's 50 state strategy is the way to go forward. It is positive and truly American.
sundog 01.24.07 - 6:39 pm

Fallenmonk Compassionate Conservatism Shines posted about the Republicans killing the Minimum wage bill- which, is another nail they have hammered into their own coffin. If they were trying to still push the illusion that Republicans are a party of the common man, they are failing miserably.

Here's a comment that I made there, and I think it gives us the solution to Saving the South:

We need to keep pushing the truth that the Republican party IS The party of the elite, not the common man. That misconception that Democrats are elites has cost the Democratic party the red states that it once championed (including my own Texas).

Another myth to dispel is the illusion pushed on CNBC and by numerous Repub party hacks that Republicans support small business. Nothing could be further from the truth. The Republican Party supports Big Business and Big business kills small business. Period.

I think that if the Dems can pick up on these two small yet VERY Important facts, that we can take back a big portion of the Red States who have been lied to, over and over by the Republican party.

Divide and Conquer has worked big for the Republican party in the past. Don't let your knee jerk emotions dictate the future of the country. The South is full of damn good people. Don't divide us further. This IS ABOUT AMERICA. This is about us all. Blue collar workers are suffering right now under the elitist Corporate CEO mentality that the country is being run under. That means the people of the South as well as the people in the North and on the coasts. We need to keep on the 50 state strategy and we will persevere.

Send these thoughts to the Democratic leadership, through your various channels. Let your Reps know that the American people want them to speak out against the Republican alliance with Corporate interests. Tell them we want them to ask the public these questions:
Where have All the Small businesses gone under the Supreme Republican Leadership?
Why is there a chinese supplied Wal-Mart in every major city?
Why are corporations making record profits while tens of thousands of small businesses go belly up?

It's not rocket science. Take away all the Corporate Tax shelters and cuts and benefits from this administration and Small Businesses might have a fighting chance against Big Business.

It's time for Americans to realize: Supporting the Republican Party means DOOMING small businesses. And it has been for years. Wake the hell up. In the Perfect Larry Kudlow America- Corporations own everything and individuals own nothing except their social security investment accounts (with nothing in them).Corporations Kill Small Business. And Cheney/Bush/Big Oil represent Corporate interest over Americans interest every damn day.

Imagine the common citizenry, in ALL 50 states, supporting morality, decency, fair play, and an equal shake. Imagine a middle class America uniting against the elite war profiteers and oil barons of the Bush Administration.

UPDATE: The History of the South's blue collar's moving towards the Republican party
http://www.thenation.com/doc/20070212/moser