DISPATCH FROM GREENVILLE, S.C.
Democrats Out of Step in South
Los Angeles Times
By John Johnson, Times Staff Writer

Once a stronghold, the region was swept by Bush in 2000. Many voters say the party has strayed too far from the mainstream. The writer offers these observations:

GREENVILLE, S.C. —
1. "Not rich enough" to be a Republican, he said, he's a Ralph Nader man who can't understand what's happened to the Democratic Party in the South.

2. "Now they're preoccupied "with all this negative stuff," he said, meaning the gay rights movement. Hudson doesn't mind people living their lives the way they want in private, but "they don't have to be out there having parades."

3.- about wanting to appeal to guys with Confederate flags on their pickups...

4. Confederate flag wavers are "not a group that votes very much of the time. Or if they did, they wouldn't think that a New England Democrat would represent them," But Dean's broader point, that the Democrats need to find a way to reach out to working-class white voters, is on target.

5. The truth is in the numbers. President Bush defeated Al Gore, 57% to 41%, in South Carolina's 2000 presidential voting on his way to sweeping the South.

6. The Republicans... have exploited the worst fears of whites by opposing Democratic efforts to achieve racial justice. "What changed in this state is race," he said. "They've painted the Democrats as the black party."

7.Some whites...are troubled by the way Democrats seem to be courting one special interest group or another. If the issue isn't gay pride, it's abortion rights.

8. That's not to say no one here is struggling to make ends meet. It's just that there are not enough low-wage earners to fuel class rage, Erwin said.

9. Although unemployment in South Carolina is up a tick or two to 7%,...there's not enough pain out there right now to threaten Bush in South Carolina next year.

10. Rather than rail against Bush policies, however, people sipping beers at the Blind Horse Saloon were more inclined to blame Northerners for their woes.

11. Sharon Blake, 59, moved here from Connecticut with her husband two years ago to retire. A onetime liberal-leaning social worker, she said she has grown more conservative with age. Still, Blake said, she had to adjust to some of the things that make the South unique, like the huge influence of religion here. "There's got to be 500 Baptist churches in Greenville," she said.

12. When you start talking politics to people in coffee shops and bars, you'll still hear complaints that Republicans are for the rich. But the passion starts to boil when talk turns to gay pride parades, civil unions or outlawing religion in the classroom while certain Hollywood movies depict a moral wasteland.

13. "They're not for the working man anymore," Jerry, who refused to give his last name, said of the Democrats.

14. To many here, Democrats have become a party of scolding parents demanding that the South change its nasty habits. That just makes some want to dig in their heels more.

15. "They ought to leave that flag alone," said Bohler.
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Bizmarts says:

"From all indications I've seen and heard lately, Southerners see Republicans as: "for the rich", "overly evangelical", "not beholding to minority social groups", "for the nuclear family", "tough on crime", "morally sound", and "predominately white prosperous professionals", "oriented toward frontiersman concerns", "favorably disposed toward the US Military", and "a lot like me".

They see Democrats as "morally relativistic", "pushy on Gay/Lesbian issues", "overly concerned with minorities", "snobbishly Northeastern", "either a socialist or a low-life grifter", "concerned with things that don't matter", "not patriotic", "whiny", "female-centric concerns", "wanting to take assets from "productive people; ie, me" and give to others who don't deserve it", "not friendly toward religion or the nuclear family", and "not good stewards of resources".

The Democratic achievements are viewed as "something that happened in the past", and Southerners believe "nothing bad is going to happen" to Medicaid, Medicare, the US Dollar, Main Street, America's place in the World, Financial Markets, or with regard to crime and drugs because "our current system is taking pretty good care of these things now".

Professional class concerns about pre-emptive war, insider trading, corporate dishonesty, budget deficits, unilateral interventions in foreign countries opposed by the World community, abrogation of treaties, dismantilation of the social safety net, environmental degradation not being opposed by the Federal Governement, extensive suburbanization of the country, static and declining fertility rates for native born citizens, religious jingoism, the destructive role of money in politics, limitations and repeal of constitutional laws and practices, and declining citizen participation in community activities all do not register as being important concerns.