John Edwards for President.

[ottermax]

It's a little too early to say that all the candidates are horrible for the Democrats, politics can change drastically in two years. They may be poor candidates right now, but the candidates could change.

I also think that Democrats are not done with the South, at least the Atlantic South. Virginia, North Carolina, Florida, even Georgia and South Carolina could begin to tilt to the left as they begin to see a movement of northern liberals southward. The change may be a little slower than in the southwest, where a quicker, and larger shift to the left is expected, but the South will likely change, but not as a whole.

[ottermax]

It's a little too early to say that all the candidates are horrible for the Democrats, politics can change drastically in two years. They may be poor candidates right now, but the candidates could change.

I also think that Democrats are not done with the South, at least the Atlantic South. Virginia, North Carolina, Florida, even Georgia and South Carolina could begin to tilt to the left as they begin to see a movement of northern liberals southward. The change may be a little slower than in the southwest, where a quicker, and larger shift to the left is expected, but the South will likely change, but not as a whole.

Not so sure about S.C & Georgia (though I think the Charlotte burbs in S.C (York County) will become less republican) with that being said not enough to change S.C much & might be offset by other parts of the state.

VA & NC are different, especially VA.  The change is no question happening in VA.  Northern VA is absolutely FLYING leftward and that trend is likely to continue.  Even suburban Richmond which is still very GOP friendly, isn't nearly as strong as it once was for the GOP.  Their are some GOP gains in SW VA, ex Dem strongholds, but the population differences from the Dem trending areas FAR outweigh the population of the GOP trending areas in the state.  VA is probably on the outskirts for the Dems in 08 (minus Warner on the ticket, then its theirs), but a 50/50 election in 2012 it has a good chance to go Dem, and is pretty much a tossup.

NC is a bit further down the road than that, but is making a slow Dem trend.  The Charlotte area is growing rapidly, many from northeast, especially New York transplants (my family is likely moving down there within the next couple years and I might as well) .  The growth this area will see from the northeast especially the socially liberal NYC suburbs such as Long Island and Westchester will make the area & the state more Democratic (especially because the ultra socially conservative Republicans down there will scare the hell out of any Independent from up her)  Other parts of the state such as the tri-cities region as well as Greensboro have been moving Dem as well.  Their are other portions of the state moving GOP which limits the speed of the change, but their is some movement, which could possibly make the state competitive down the road (though not as soon as VA)

I agree with you, Georgia and SC don't seem to be moving leftward, but I'm basing this off of the movement of America's population. Recently, I read a USA Today article while I was in San Diego about the census estimates. The census estimates show that the Atlantic Southeast is gainly rapidly along with the Southwest, so I'm assuming all of these people are coming from the liberal areas that are losing people in the NE and Midwest. The article also said that immigration was increasing in the Atlantic SE, which also tends to help make places more liberal.

As I said, these states are moving much slower to the left than in the Southwest, but they should move that way with time, if these trends continue.