The South Has Risen Again

Robert E. Lee

In 2004, we elected George W. Bush, a very conservative man, to a second term of office. In spite of Bush's duplicity about weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, slow and too-measured responses to terrorism and 9/11, flagging economy, etc, Americans decisively returned him to office. His opponent John Kerry gave a muddled, sometimes contradictory response to how he would handle Iraq. Perhaps more significant, John Kerry did not fit the profile of Democrats who have won since Dixiecrats started merging into the GOP, circa 1964. Here is that profile:

- Hails from a former Confederate State
- Mainstream Protestant (Baptist or Methodist)
- Anglo
- Speaks with a decided southern or southwestern accent, slightly folksy
- Centrist approach to politics

LBJ, Carter and Clinton all fit this profile -- centrist Southern, pro-business "regular guys". Non-Southerners like Kerry and Dukakis seem to have style impediments at the outset. Oddly, the only chance that non-Southerners now have at the Oval Office is within the Republican Party. Republicans can hail from a wider geographic range because their motives are not "suspect"; Republican candidates are not viewed as likely to give away the store or initiate big spending programs. Interesting to note, the general public went along with many of the social buttressing and big spending programs started by presidents (most of them Democratic) prior to the late 60's:

- Social Security
- Securities and Exchange Commission
- FDIC
- Medicaid
- Medicare
- Interstate highway system
- NASA, Moon program

Unfortunately, where the Democrats started to lose altitude was in race-related issues of the 1960's. The following are also initiatives started primarily under Democratic administrations, and which create acrimony even to this day:

- Affirmative Action
- School Integration
- Food stamps
- Civil Rights Act
- EEOC
- Fair Housing Act
- Section 8 Housing

In the Reconstruction South, the Ku Klux Klan avowed, "The South will rise again", as they terrorized carpetbaggers and black people. That's an echo no one wants to hear. When you review the history books, it's true that the North had a decisive military victory over the South in 1865. Much of the South was laid waste, and then it was occupied over the next decade. But if victory is measured by changes of heart or attitude, Robert E. Lee is riding high in 2005. Lip service is given to civil rights, but when push comes to shove, even in northern states, a racial status quo is preferred to any social engineering legislation. Unfortunately, from the standpoint of evolving race relations, the advancement of minorities will probably be at a slower pace -- not by any legislated mandate.

WHAT IT COMES DOWN TO - POLITICALLY SPEAKING

The Democratic Party is currently lost - no telling if it can ever find itself again. Howard Dean was made chairman and the liberal lightening rod, Hillary Clinton, is seen as the front runner for 2008. The Southern centrist formula has been lost in the shuffle. My own prediction is that Republicans will probably reign for another 4 or 5 administrations. The mindset of the country seems to be toward conservatism, and the 9/11 attack only cements it. We now actually have a Republican president who adheres somewhat to my Southern formula above. (George W. wouldn't exactly qualify as centrist, and his family is actually from the Northeast). Democrats are steering in the wrong direction to regain ground any time soon. So for moderate liberals like me, is there any hope at all? Yes - probably in the liberal wing of the GOP. But I'm loath to join that party. I'll cheer the liberal Republicans from the sideline - and hope that common sense returns at some point. The South has risen again, and I'm not just whistling Dixie.