Elizabeth Edwards: Democrats Ignore the South

[DeepModem Mom]

NYT/AP: Mrs Edwards: Democrats Ignore South
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published: August 28, 2007

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) -- The Democratic Party has ignored Southern voters in the past and it's unlikely two of the major Democratic presidential candidates -- Sen. Hillary Clinton and Sen. Barack Obama -- will spend much time in the South, said Elizabeth Edwards, wife of Democratic candidate John Edwards. She told a group of her husband's supporters at a fundraiser Tuesday: ''You see Democrats all the time write off states like Tennessee, North Carolina, too.''

''We didn't campaign with a single ad in North Carolina last time and we had a North Carolinian on the ballot. Why? Because they didn't think a Democrat could win North Carolina,'' Edwards said. Bush won the state....

Edwards said Democratic values parallel more closely with Southern values than those of the Republican Party, because of emphasis on family and small community issues, such as child care credits and universal health insurance. But the Democratic Party isn't bothering to spend the money needed to connect to Southern voters, Edwards said, which she said showed it had written off the region.

Edwards said a Democrat is electable in the region where there are five states with Democratic governors -- Arkansas, Louisiana, North Carolina, Tennessee and Virginia.

Clinton was in Arkansas a week ago and pledged to carry the state where her husband was governor. ''I'm going to do everything I can to make sure we put Arkansas back in the winner's column,'' she said....

http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/us/AP-Elizabeth-Edwards.html