Call them the Southern Party.

[chaska]

Discuss.

I can't hang around, but (with apologies to my fellow Southern Democrats) I've been wanting to get this out there.

Seems to me like a good way to push the meme of GOP marginalization.

What do ya'll think?

[Ishoutandscream2]

1. Well, I hope this doesn't come down to ol' fashioned southern hating

on DU, but I think you are correct when it comes to representation. The Republicans are becoming non-existent in the northeast, and you see the west and the upper midwest starting to turn a bit blue as well. I am a Texan, and I think we can all constructively say the Republics are a regional party.

[Turbineguy]

2. There are a lot of very nice people who live

in "the south".

[bdamomma]

3. the media has called them a "regional party" during the election.

[pnorman]

4. I've been referring to it as Rightoworkistan.

n/t

pnorman

[Name removed]

8. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Kalyke]

19. No it doesn't.

Not to the thousands of us who live here, love the climate, don't want to move and aren't the least bit "dumb."

[Name removed]

20. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Kalyke]

22. Kind of like Marsha Blackburn's (R-Raging Idiot) district.

[HopeHoops]

23. Yeah, but my favorites are the ones that are connected by streams.

GEOGRAPHICALLY, the areas are connected, but there are no VOTERS in the connecting paths - just waterways.

[pnorman]

36. "I've been referring to it as Rightoworkistan."

I frequently post from a PRO-Union perspective, and "Right To Work" is a common target of my ire. I LIKED that characterization, even if it's an original by me. Check out this map at the bottom of this page: http://www.nrtwc.org/ It shows a pretty broad overlap with the "Red States", at least BEFORE the 2008 Election. Take due note of those States (FL, VA, and NC) which have been "detached" since then.

By now, I'm a FERVENT supporter of Obama, but up till about a year ago, I most definitely was NOT. I thought it was absolutely necessary that the previous 8 years of Bush, Cheney, and Halliburon MUST be rolled back, and I was afraid that his "race" might cost too many votes. How WRONG I was! (And also a few others here on DU). GO OBAMA, GO!

I also noted earlier, that another poster here had preferred his own abusive term to mine (also ending in -stan). He had been slapped down by others on this thread. Fine by me. But I also notice that he had been TOMBSTONED for using that expression. That's NOT "Fine by me"!

pnorman

[jsamuel]

5. That will just give Southerners a bad name.

[KamaAina]

6. When exactly did Idaho and Utah secede during the Civil War?

:eyes:

[sasquatch]

7. Confederate Party to be more exact

Muerte al Sur.
:patriot:

[margotb822]

10. I like that

I was thinking the "Old Southern Party" to convey the idea that they're lost in the past, but I think Confederate Party does a better job.

[misanthrope]

9. So what you're saying is...

...as a certain political party begins to stand for little more than reactionary obstructionism and hatred, their numbers fall around the nation with the exception of a few states. What then does that say about those states, their society, demographics and culture if they are that much more comfortable with such a mindset?

There are a variety of conclusions about such, some more complex than others, but none are flattering as a whole.

[jsamuel]

12. FL voted for Obama, but is dominated by Republicans. AR voted for McCain, but is dominated by Dems.

In fact, AR has a higher percentage of Dems to Repubs than CA. (State House 72/100 Dems)

US House + US Senate = 5/6 seats are Dems

[Alexander]

11. But we won the capitol of the Confederacy (Virginia) in 2008.

How about the Increasingly Irrelevant Party?

[JVS]

13. I'd call them the American Independent Party because they've pushed Nixon's Southern Strategy...

so far that they've essentially become the party of Wallace.

[ColbertWatcher]

14. A nice nickname for them would be the Confederates! n/t

[phantom power]

15. The Aristocrat Party

The tendency toward aristocratic leanings has some historical correlation with the southern states, but I think the underlying thread is about favoring an aristocratic view of government.

[Dawgs]

16. I agree with an earlier poster that said we should call them the "OLD Southern Party".

We should be trying to change the South, not isolate them; especially since I live there.

[TNDemo]

17. Yeah, I just love when you are trying to insult someone you call them southern.

And on TV if they want to portray someone as stupid they give them a southern accent. It would be nice not be labeled. It's not very open-minded.

[chaska]

18. I'm Southern....

People need to stop taking things so personally. Every DUer is smart enough to know that we Southern Dems are somewhat the equivalent of political prisoners. But the fact remains Southern political culture is pretty damned, well, damnable. And the point needs to be made that the rest of the country should not embrace "our" culture.

So, don't take it personally. It ain't about you.

[Kalyke]

21. Yes, it is about TNDemo, and me and the hundreds of other

Southern DUers on this board. It's like being the red-headed stepchild.

I happen to love a lot about "our" culture: politeness, the Blues, sweet iced tea, biscuits, Coca-Cola, whiskey, lazy days in hammocks, Tennessee Williams, William Faulkner and Mark Twain, Friday-night football, Saturday afternoon football (Go Vols!) and calling your Mama, "Mama."

And as for political culture, I'm sure many folks would love to go back to the populism of Huey Long or Bill Clinton or the intelligence of Al Gore. That's our "culture," not these Johnny-come-lately Republio-facists.

[texanwitch]

25. Well said.

:applause:

[TNDemo]

28. Thank you.

Stereotyping is alive and well on DU.

[Gemini Cat]

30. Bless your heart, but it IS about you.

When somebody decides that because you happen to live in a particular region of the country you are somehow not as enlightened or as intelligent or as liberal or all around fucking wonderful as they are, then yeah, it is about you. That's exactly what one is saying when one decides to broad brush a particular region.

Tell me since I'm not from the south and you say you are, what do you consider "your" culture that you don't want embraced?

[Blue_Roses]

24. Stupid. I've lived in the south all my life and I've always been a

proud supporter of the Democratic party. While I agree that a ton of the idiots live in the south, by no means are we all republicans.

[TNDemo]

29. Have you ever noticed when you talk with someone from out west

(in particular) or up north that when you tell them you are southern you have to qualify everything first before you can have a conversation? "Yes, I'm educated, I'm liberal, I didn't marry my cousin, I wear shoes, I don't hunt, I don't live on a farm. Now will you talk to me like a normal person?"

[dgibby]

32. And Julia Sugarbaker's favorite: Southerners do NOT eat dirt!

[DatManFromNawlins]

35. Because they are BIGOTS who don't feel ashamed about it...

They treat Southerners like they imagine Southerners must be treating blacks, regardless of education level or political affiliation.

[TexasObserver]

26. They are the Confederate Party in every sense.

The Republican Party IS the Old Confederacy now. It's for those who treasure Jim Crow and Jerry Falwell, while hating MLK and Barack Obama.

[misanthrope]

27. Which Tea (I hate Obama) Party drew 15,000?**nm

**

[MellowDem]

31. Nah...

We got Virginia, North Carolina, Florida, plus Georgia and Texas (!) IMHO are not far behind. And the Mountain West went about as red as the South did. They have become a certain demographic party, a niche party, and that is reflected by the regions they win, but let's not alienate future converts with this regional labeling. Or any labeling really.

Let's just say they cater to the extreme right.

[dgibby]

33. No. Call them what they are: Neo-fascists.

[ccharles000]

34. No North Carolina is more and more blue each year.

[SoCalDem]

37. The WOMB party

white old man bigot party