Democratic South finally falls

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After suffering a historic rout — in which nearly every white Deep South Democrat in the U.S. House was defeated and Republicans took over or gained seats in legislatures across the region — the party’s ranks in Dixie have thinned even further.

In Georgia, Louisiana and Alabama, Democratic state legislators have become Republicans, concluding that there is no future in the party that once dominated the so-called Solid South.

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The last ramparts have fallen and political realignment has finally taken hold in one of the South’s last citadels of Democratic strength: the statehouses.

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The losses and party switching, one former Southern Democratic governor noted, “leave us with little bench for upcoming and future elections.”

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Part of the reason for this pessimism is that the Democrats who were defeated and those who are changing parties are overwhelmingly of the same type: rural white males who are more conservative than their national party.

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“What we’re seeing is what Lyndon Johnson alluded to [after passage of the Voting Rights Act], said Rep. Charlie Melancon (D-La.), referring to the former president’s prediction that he was turning over the South to the GOP by pushing through civil rights legislation.

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Perhaps nowhere in the South did Democrats suffer such extensive losses on Election Day as they did in Alabama, where the House and Senate went from overwhelmingly Democratic to overwhelmingly Republican.

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Now, 26 of the 39 Democrats left in the Alabama House are African-Americans, a reflection of how the two parties are increasingly stratified along racial lines in the South.

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It’s much the same next door in Georgia, where five Democratic legislators have become Republicans since Election Day.

"Democrats have now become the party of the [Atlanta] metro area and of blacks," said state Rep. Alan Powell, one of the party switchers and a veteran northeastern Georgia pol. "That’s not to be derogatory. It’s just what it is."

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For all the bad tidings, there is one important development that could bode well for Democrats in some Southern states. While they may never get back the rural areas that once served as their bulwark, Southern Democrats are now competitive in some fast-growing suburbs in states that have a significant number of transplants. There was a reason why Obama won Virginia and North Carolina in 2008 — both are filled with newcomers who are open to supporting either party.

"The more metropolitan a state has become, the more resilience that gives Democrats," said Ferrel Guillory, an expert on Southern politics at the University of North Carolina.

http://dyn.politico.com/printstory.cfm?uuid=9071B5F8-91E6-C69B-18EB312BE1C0D0C8

[Gary and Alla 3,694]

I am crying big crocodile tears for the racist, slavery supporting, anti-civil rights, anti-voting rights Southern Democrats. It is a shame the northern racist, slavery supporting, anti-civil rights, anti-voting rights Dems still hold any seats. Oh well, gotta start somewhere.

[The_Dude 1,142]

[Danno 1,228]

How serious can this writer be taken?

SHe is an "expert" from UNC....

yet she wrapped up her piece with this.

<<For all the bad tidings, there is one important development that could bode well for Democrats in some Southern states. While they may never get back the rural areas that once served as their bulwark, Southern Democrats are now competitive in some fast-growing suburbs in states that have a significant number of transplants. There was a reason why Obama won Virginia and North Carolina in 2008 — both are filled with newcomers who are open to supporting either party.

>>

Not sure how VA faired in the recent state-wide elections but the other state she mentioned (NC) just had a win so historic... such power has not been in the GOP's hands since 1890's...... and somehow this is suppose to represent "hope" for Democrats in state elections?