What's the big deal about Northern vs Southern candidates?
 

Ok, I don't want this to turn into a big North vs South debate, but the topic keeps popping up, so I'm curious: Why is everyone making such a big deal about northern candidates supposedly having problems winning the election? Do people really think that southerners are so closed-minded that they won't vote for someone who's not "one of their kind"? Would southern people really vote for W over a northern democratic candidate just because he's southern? It seems that people in the north don't have a problem electing a candidate from the south, but everyone is making it seem like people in the south don't want to elect a candidate from the north.

BTW, here's the article that sparked this thread: Edwards touts Southern credentials ahead of S.C. primary

Aren't you aware that the Civil War never really ended?

Go visit the South sometime and you'll see.

It's a whole different culture down there.

Birds of a feather flock together.

-Rudey

Like other civilized society, the war went from the trenches into the sporting arena. Just look at how soccer became warfare against other nations by proxy.

How, specifically?



hahaha to DeltAlum. :)

Amen to that one. Southerners have different values and expectations out of a president in comparison to the rest of America. If you want to win, it would help to win over the south.

Excuse me, but that was the War Between the States...

So what are those values and expectations, and what makes them so different from those of northerners?

Yes. And if you happen to live South of the Mason-Dixon Line it's also sometimes called The War of Northern Agression.

LOL... Now you sound like my uncle.

Don't you know that everyone and everything in the South is so much better? Ugh I can't believe you weren't taught that! Just goes to show how Northerners have NO CLASS. /sarcasm

Bush Sr and Reagan were not Southern and won the election. Northern Democrats might have trouble winning the south yes.

But, both really tried--through their emphases on defense, the anti-abortion movement, and other "traditional" positions--to win the South. A candidate who has always served say, a New York contingency will have a much harder time because the things he's pushed for are pretty much opposite what he'll have to push for Georgia residents.

I've noticed that Southerners tend to vote more along party lines. Rhode Island is a staunchly Democratic state, but they overwhelimingly voted two Republican senators in because of the fact that they were pro-choice and pro-environment.

That was a pretty astute statement arya .. kudos to you.

"Waterloo was won on the fields of Eaton . . . ."

-wellington

Or The Yankee Invasion. :p

To even this out, there are a lot of people I know who wouldn't vote for a Southern Good Ol' Boy. The funniest quote I've heard on this came out of a PoliSci grad student - "If I have to vote for some drunken frat daddy, it's going to be one who talks like I do, not one with a funny accent!"

Re: What's the big deal about Northern vs Southern candidates?
 

Yes, no matter how many of us shout from the rooftops that not all southerners are provincial dimwits.

White southerners most certainly would. Black southerners pretty much vote Democratic exclusively, even when it may not be in their best interests to do so. That's why you're going to see the Democratic candidates speaking out more about race over the next few weeks as they head into states with larger Black populations.

Is anyone going to answer my question (the one about specific differences)?

Ok- you want specific differences, I'll share my story:
I was born, raised and lived most of my adult life in Ohio. When I was laid off, I got this wierd idea in my head... you hate snow so go somewhere that you won't have to deal with snow. Good in theory but bad idea. Maybe if I'd stuck to a big city, it wouldn't have been so bad but I went to a town of 60,000 in the Southeast. I was reminded at least weekly that I was a "Yankee" (spoken in the tone of voice that someone from Boston would use when speaking of a certain pinstriped baseball team). Social events among colleagues would be discussed and I'd get notes in my box telling me that I was not welcome... I wouldn't understand their traditions and humor (I didn't, it was racist.. there were racist cartoons post all over the office). I even tried finding a church-- same thing "Oh, you ain't from round here... you a tourist?" When I was polite and courteous to our secretaries and ask how they were doing, I was told "white ladies don't talk to them". When I directly discussed a difference of opinion with a co-worker, I was told that I was rude... people in that office played passive-aggressive games routinely. I soon learned that Southern civility (at least in that region) is a thin veneer. How does that translate to politics? Communication, how you address people and determine their issues. Their needs may be similar (jobs!!) but how you go about that is different and candidates need to be cogniscent of regional differences lest they offend and don't even realize they've done it. Needless to say, I left after a year.

I'm going to go out on a limb here and say that not only would a Northern Democrat have trouble winning the South, but any Democrat at all would, no matter where he or she was from. I've lived here all my life, and in the Deep South, traditions die hard, no matter how utterly ridiculous and shallow they might be. :rolleyes: (Disclaimer--not that I agree with most of them!)

Jimmy Carter from Georgia and Bill Clinton from Arkansas are proof at least southern Democrats can win in the south.

Good point. The South, as a rule, however, generally does vote Republican (not just referring to presidential elections here, though).

In presidental elections yes. Georgia got its first Republican governor since the civil war in 2002. And the legislture usually has a democrat majority.

I don't think ole Sonny will be gov after 2006 since he is not well liked. I wouldn't be suprized if he loses his parties nomination to someone else.

Wow... you need to pm me and tell me where you lived?

That's SO correct it's not even funny. (This coming from a New Yorker who spent 4 years in Atlanta and then moved to Boston)

I was verbally assaulted *far* too often going to the super market. I'm minding my business, picking out produce -- when someone's Yankee-dar goes off and they feel the need to come up to me and announce that they knew I was a Yankee and Yankees were rude and I should go back where I came from.

This was before I'd even opened my mouth - so the full essence of the Brooklyn/Long Island/New Jersey accent I'd developed had yet to hit them.

Blew my mind.

I'd venture to say that 90% of the people living down there would never dream of doing that to someone. But get hit with the other 10% often enough...

I have to say the only time I did anything like this was when I heard one too many Yankees complaining about how "life was better up North" and "people in the South are backwards/ignorant/racist/troglodytes/regressive".

To paraphrase Chris Rock, I'm not saying that the treatment ya'll got was right... I'm just saying I understand.

My brother relocated to the South after going to grad school at Chapel Hill. I teased him a couple years later about his new southern accent and he said "I had to pick up the accent to be accepted" and he was the CEO of a hospital. He has always worked in very small towns in North Carolina, Georgia and now Arkansas. He has become very southern over the last 20 years!

Dee

But he still roots for Detroit sports teams!

actually we call it
 

It is the War of Northern Agression.;)

I grew up in North Florida (if you haven't been there, don't say it isn't the South) and I find this extremely easy to believe. Many small-town Southerners are classically insular. I know that when I was applying to jobs in my hometown, well-regarded architects were like, "What kind of college did you go to? Is it a black school? Why didn't you go to Auburn/Tech/Vandy?" :rolleyes: There's comfort in familiarity, and if you fit the mold, that's good for you.

In politics, partisan leanings aside, it comes down to which candidate is more down-home, more like you. I'm not saying that doesn't happen everywhere. Even though Bill Clinton was not educated in the South, he was able to play up his down-home heritage. W, a Connecticut Yankee if there ever was one, capitalized on the fact that he spent a relatively small part of his childhood living on his family's ranch in Texas to win over Southerners.

My economics teacher liked to call it the "War of Northern Aggression"

While I believe this is generally true in your lifetime, it is a recent turn. Alabama has only had 4 Republican Governors out of 52. The first one was elected in 1868 and there was not another one until Guy Hunt was elected in 1987. There have been two since Hunt including the present Governor. Historically, with the exception of the last 15-20 years, Alabama was overwhelmingly Democratic.

''

AGREED!! My in-laws have lived here in the South for over 30 years and they STILL talk about how great things up north are/were. That bugs the crap out of me.

The same as when I took a job working for a yankee (I use the term yankee, yes, but its not an insult until I add the word "damn" in front of it ;) ) and all she would do was criticize the people we worked with because our food was not up to par for her, our ideas would "never work up north" -- hello?!, and she didn't like the fact that because she was over 50, people down here called her "m'am".

I definitely think what happened to some of you on here was undeserved, and am sorry that even somewhere like church, you would be criticized.

Back on topic.... I live in a pretty liberal town, and have seen more anti-W stuff here than I would probably see in Kerry's hometown! I definitely don't think that most people would vote for him just because he is from Texas, but I people have based their decisions on less before!

Munchkin - I am sorry to hear about your experience in Florida. I spend a lot of time there, and can definitely say that I don't think there is one thing Southern about Florida, other than geographic location. Most of the in-laws live there (all moved from CT, MA, etc.) and they have huge community rallies and stuff for Dem's. Of course I know that one group doesn't account for the whole state, but I was just remarking on the sections that I know and visit most often.

Mr. AXO Alum and I actually talked about moving to Jacksonville one day, but I told him that I couldn't give up my "southern status" to live in a yankee state. (J/K people - don't get all in a tizzy over it! Oh, and YES, it was definitely the War of Northern Aggression :p)

With all due respect, it is 100% impossible to BECOME Southern...

This conversation came up at the bar last night and the popular consensus that we would not vote for any candidate who does not support the second amendment. We don’t seem to agree on everything but this was the one point that everyone could get behind.

Historically, haven't the majority of presidents been elected from the South? Southern states (i.e. the "Bible Belt") seem to be more conservative in a lot of areas, one example being the issue of gay rights. e.g. no states come to mind when i think about "rebel" politicians marrying same-sex couples except in a couple Northern states. whereas here, it'd seem to be unthinkable to a lot of people. common regional values that might differ, on the whole, from states north of an invisible line. like not being able to find sweet tea north of the Ohio R.

*i just think that's one aspect that might contribute to the importance of winning the Southern states, and why the South is considered separately as a chunk of votes. if i'm wrong, correct me without making me seem like big ol idiot. *