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

[GeekyPenguin]

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

Or The Yankee Invasion.

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!"

[Sistermadly]

Originally posted by DWAlphaGam
Do people really think that southerners are so closed-minded that they won't vote for someone who's not "one of their kind"?

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

Would southern people really vote for W over a northern democratic candidate just because he's southern?

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.

[DWAlphaGam]

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

[dakareng]

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.

[twhrider13]

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. (Disclaimer--not that I agree with most of them!)

[The1calledTKE]

Originally posted by twhrider13
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. (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.

[twhrider13]

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).

[The1calledTKE]

Originally posted by twhrider13
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.

[UKDaisy]

Originally posted by dakareng
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.

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

[daoine]

Originally posted by dakareng
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).

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...

[Sistermadly]

Originally posted by daoine
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.

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.

[AGDee]

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!

[Glitterkitty]

Originally posted by bethany1982
Excuse me, but that was the War Between the States...

It is the War of Northern Agression.

[Munchkin03]

Originally posted by dakareng
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.

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?" 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.

[RedHotChiO]

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

Originally posted by DeltAlum
Aren't you aware that the Civil War never really ended?