Newsweek’s latest cover story “Southern Discomfort: A journey through a troubled region” is an utter failure at original reporting and fresh insight.
The goal of the article was to convey the South’s “discomfort” with Barack Obama, which according to author Christopher Dickey, whose father penned “Deliverance,” has nothing to do with the senator’s liberalism, but is [...]
Writing Archive
Newsweek Fails on “Southern Discomfort” Story
Schaller Leans Too Much on Numbers to Suggest Dems Can’t Win the South
Tom Schaller has a solid column in the New York Times today arguing exactly the opposite of what the paper has suggested repeatedly — that Obama can win deep red states in the old Confederacy by inspiring and mobilizing unprecedented African-American turnout.
In his piece “The South Will Fall Again,” he dispels two popular myths about [...]
The Times is Bullish about Obama’s Prospects in the South
May 19: “In the South, a Force to Challenge the G.O.P.“:
“The sharp surge in black turnout that Senator Barack Obama has helped to generate in recent primaries and Congressional races could signal a threat this fall to the longtime Republican dominance of the South. …
“To hold these states, Republicans may have to work harder than [...]
Could Obama Really Win a State in the South?
If Barack Obama wins any of the states in the former Confederacy, it’ll probably be Virginia or North Carolina. But a few analysts have suggested that he could boost African-African turnout across the rest of the south — the Deep South, mind you — to make some really red states competitive. Chuck Todd [...]
Pundits Whistlin’ Dixie
The Southern Political Report released its report of “Dixie’s Competitive Congressional Districts” on Monday, and according to SPR’s Hastings Wyman, “This year some 21 of the South’s 162 congressional seats are more or less ‘in play,’ 12 of them currently held by Republicans, 9 by Democrats. Due to such factors as a strong tide against [...]
Is it Time to Declare a Democratic Resurgency in the South?
Two special elections looses in the South have some Republicans worrying that their electoral stranglehold on the region may be loosening. Case in point: The Washington Times’ David Lambro, who’s about as right-of-center as any prominent Beltway correspondent, co-authored an article today under the headline, “Democrats again whistling Dixie.”
And J-Mart points to a quote from [...]
Obama Could Galvanize Huge Turnout in the South
The New York Times‘ Southern correspondent Adam Nossiter has an interesting article today about how Barack Obama could galvanize hundreds of thousands of African-American votes in the South. He notes that black turnout in the South Carolina primary more than doubled from 2004, to 295,0000, and increased in Georgia from 289,000 four years ago [...]
Broder Sounds the Alarm for the GOP in the South
… And gives McCain a lot of credit for picking up on early warnings. Broder writes, “McCain for one seems to have grasped that warning. Over the past week, as he toured the South from Selma to Little Rock, he clearly was signaling a shift from the traditional GOP way of courting Dixie voters.”
The Electoral Map Daily Compass: Who Won Texas?
The two major discussions in the electoral-map-osphere over the weekend were the debate over SurveyUSA’s 50 state polls that show both Obama and Clinton building winning geographic coalitions over McCain, and Jonathan Martin’s observation that Hillary is running strong in Scots-Irish Appalachia.
If you’re interested in SurveyUSA’s polls check out my post from Friday, complete with [...]
SurveyUSA Releases Polls in 50 States
SurveyUSA released a series of polls in all 50 states on Thursday that measure both John McCain against Hillary Clinton and McCain against Barack Obama. The results should be taken with a grain of salt considering SurveyUSA uses robocalls instead of live people, but the results are still fascinating.
The key takeaway is that either [...]
Comments