Reply #17: The Black Vote [View All]

[Dob Bole]

South Carolina is a prime example. How do Dems get spade and neutered over and over again in a state that is 40% black? Louisiana is only 30% and they still win. Some major voter registration needs to go on in that state, and some calming of race relations.
Every state is a little different, though. Strengthening unions would definitely help in Alabama and Mississippi, where all the jobs are in power plants, paper mills, etc. Universal Health Care would go a really long way there.
In Georgia, there was never a switch to Republican during the 20th century. That's because of the large industrial center of Atlanta and the fact that, when a lot of white people were switching in the 70s, a Dem president came from Georgia.
Florida- fix the Katherine Harris voter rolls and the nightmare will be all over. Bush is the 1st Repub governor that I know of in that state, and there are a lot of retirees from the northeast. Cuban americans do vote Republican, though- they are the only Hispanic group to do so.

I don't have time to go through every state, but a large part of a long-term Southern strategy will be combatting right-wing "Christian" radio. Southerners are Christian by tradition-mostly protestant. So groups like the American Family Association ( http://www.afa.org) bankroll radio stations with Christian programming. The catch? Inbetween people's favorite programs you get to hear right-wing "news" that subtly tilts gullible listeners toward Republicanism. It's a nasty trick, but it's true- people end up voting against their own interests.