pragmatic liberal
Jr. Member
Posts: 520
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« on: July 28, 2009, 11:22:14 PM » |
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The South has never actually been monolithic, even in the days of the Democratic "Solid South." Tennessee, for example, long had an active Republican Party, while Virginia voted for Republican presidential candidates in several elections and had an active two-party system in the late 19th Century (the Readjuster Party).
Even so, the South has often been considered to have common voting patterns. I wonder, however, if that is breaking down. Demographic trends and the last election seem to show an emerging division, between the Atlantic South and the inland South.
In the Atlantic South, Virginia, North Carolina and Florida all voted for Obama - Virginia by a margin very similar to Obama's national numbers. Georgia was within 5 points and even South Carolina was within 9.
Economically, all five states are wealthier than the inland South states, with Virginia more wealthy and more diverse than the U.S. average. In fact Virginia shows signs of politically becoming more of a Mid-Atlantic state than a classic Southern state.
Do you agree about this division? It seems like there's an Atlantic South in which voting patterns increasingly resemble the rest of the country and an inland South, which is solidly Republican and much more conservative.
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