Comments on: Democrats to give up on the South.

By: Dixie Notes » Blog Archive » Who is the more polarizing candidate, Mrs. Clinton or Obama?

Sun, 10 Feb 2008 17:40:52 +0000

[...] p.s. Tom Schaller is a dumbass. I called it! [...]

By: Mr. Gunn

Mr. Gunn — Sat, 27 Oct 2007 16:24:46 +0000

Jindal’s win says more about the idiocy of people in this state than anything else.

By: Dan Z.

Dan Z. — Sat, 27 Oct 2007 14:27:05 +0000

While I absolutely disagree with the idea that we are “all racists”, the fact that Jindal got elected does not mean that racism is a huge problem in Louisiana and the south in general.

When campaigning for a candidate for Congress in 2006, people repeatedly told us that they would never vote for a Democrat because Democrats are a bunch of “N*****r Lovers”. All you have to do is hate one race to be a racist.

I personally think that the only real campaigning the Democratic presidential nominee will be doing in the south may be Florida. Other than that, they may use New Orleans as a backdrop for the campaign but I highly doubt any Democrat will bother running in the deep south seeing that Southern states elect die hard Republicans as their leaders.

By: Mr. Gunn

Mr. Gunn — Mon, 15 Oct 2007 21:21:53 +0000

Fair enough, but is there really a perception where you are that too much attention is paid to the South in National politics?

Re: Virginia - We draw a distinction between Appalachia and the South, somewhere just north of Atlanta. We’re rednecks, see, they’re hillbillies, and y’all are yankees.

Thanks for taking the time to discuss this with me, BTW. I’m really hoping you find some subtlety to Schaller’s position. It’s just not apparent in what I’ve read and I wish I could be there to ask him some questions myself. Maybe I’ll see if my DC friend will go ask a question for me.

By: KCinDC

KCinDC — Mon, 15 Oct 2007 20:38:33 +0000

Maybe you don’t consider Virginia to really be the South, but I can tell you we’re very excited about Democratic progress there.

People who say controversial things tend to get coverage. And different people have different perceptions of where we are and where we should be on the continuum between writing off the South completely and pandering to the South to the extent that we’re ignoring the rest of the country. Presumably we need to somewhere in between. Also, presidential politics is different from congressional politics is different from state and local politics. I think you’re simplifying Schaller’s position to the point of parody. I’m skeptical about him. but I’ll see what he has to say.

If Mudcat Saunders wanted to speak to us, we’d be happy to have him too.

By: Mr. Gunn

Mr. Gunn — Mon, 15 Oct 2007 19:13:43 +0000

Y’all aren’t the only people talking about him. He’s got articles and favorable press all over the web, so whatever the DNC’s official position is, at least a significant fraction of Democratic pundits do seem to like the guy.

I didn’t mean to attribute more power and influence to your group than it’s due; Your group is just how I found about about the guy first, and to DCDL’s credit, they do seem to be reserving judgment. I’m looking forward to finding out more about him.

By: KCinDC

KCinDC — Mon, 15 Oct 2007 18:58:27 +0000

The people who speak at the DCDL meetings are just people we happen to find that we’re interested in hearing. We certainly don’t agree with all of them, and there’s plenty of disagreement among DCDL members themselves.

Also, I’m amused that you think DCDL is any sort of indication of what the DNC is thinking. We’re just an informal weekly get-together, and very few of the people who show up actually work in politics. Howard Dean doesn’t stop by to have a beer with us.

By: Mr. Gunn

Mr. Gunn — Mon, 15 Oct 2007 16:26:18 +0000

Tom Schaller is getting lots of attention and guest-writing articles all over the web and in print. He’s also speaking at the DCDL meeting. Maybe it’s unfair to extrapolate from lots of favorable press to some sort of shift in policy for the DNC, but I don’t expect the DNC to issue a statement of opinion on him, so we kinda have to read the tea leaves, and it’s hard to believe that the opinion of all the Democratic pundits writing about him isn’t related at all to the DNC’s position.

But maybe I am overreacting. I hope you give him hell.

I’ll check DCDL for notes from the Q&A session. I’ve love to see what he thinks about the Louisiana Governor’s race.

By: KCinDC

KCinDC — Mon, 15 Oct 2007 14:40:31 +0000

More specifically, I really don’t understand your reference to the DNC. Tom Schaller isn’t head of the DNC. Howard Dean is, and as far as I know he’s still going with his 50-state strategy, which has been pretty successful so far.

By: KCinDC

KCinDC — Mon, 15 Oct 2007 14:33:18 +0000

Could you explain how one professor, Tom Schaller, became “Democrats” and “the DNC” to you? I think you’re overreacting. I also think you’re misrepresenting Schaller’s position, but I haven’t read his book. His talk should be interesting, and I imagine the Q&A, in which I’m sure he’ll be confronted by some Southerners (including me), will be the best part.