November 04, 2003

Southern Man

Talk about a tempest in an iced-tea pitcher.

This Salon article, which you need a subscription to see in its entirety, gets it just right. Howard Dean said, "I still want to be the candidate for guys with Confederate flags in their pickup trucks", and his fading opponents tried to make it sound as if Dean were the ideological cousin of Nathan Bedford Forrest. Are they that clueless, or just missing the point on purpose? Howard Dean is not a Confederate. How clearly can we say that? His point, and it's a crucial point, is that poor and working-class Southerners have been voting Republican because they feel (correctly) that the Democratic Party has abandoned them and (incorrectly) that the Republicans have something better to offer. Dean's point is merely that focusing on their Confederate sticker, and using that as a reason to dismiss the South, is elitist and a good way to lose another election.

I think Dean just wrapped up the "electability" question.

Comments

"tempest in an iced-tea pitcher"

ahaha. That's excellent.

Update your site more often! The world needs more of these words, insights and humorous tidbits.

Posted by: Sooz at November 5, 2003 02:25 PM

Derrick Z. Jackson of the Globe wrote that Dean's 'Confederate flag on the pickup' comments got standing ovations in Atlanta (in front of a black audience) a few months ago. It's an economic point, not racism.

Posted by: greeniegirl at November 8, 2003 10:58 AM

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