The truth is that most presidents don’t come from the South, they win by shamelessly pandering to the South. Too often, they do so by pandering to bigots of some sort. (Witness Reagan’s campaign kickoff for a fine example.)

Did you go to the “Lean Left Kevin School of Typing” when you formulated that last post?

But I do think Jeanne hits on something when she alleges that the South doesn’t give a shit about the rest of the country. I think that’s essentially true. Then again, I’d say it’s also true of much of the great plains and the mountain west…

people from outside tend to move here (for the weather, i guess)

Actually, in my case, it was for the job. If I had my druthers, I’d be in the Northeast or the Pacific Northwest somewhere. I can only speak for myself when I say that your summers suck.

There is a cultural elitism in the South; just because we don’t get snow here (at least not in my end of the state) doesn’t make it better.

Why stay? well, since the legislatures down here are vehemently anti-union, the jobs have all moved here.

Other than that, I pretty much agreed with you, especially about Junior. He hasn’t a prayer in hell; Kurita had a much better chance if Schumer hadn’t squashed it by cutting off her money sources.

Yes, there is a reason most presidents come from the South. It’s because those snooty intellectuals recognize a good candidate when they see one, and they’ll vote for him/her regardless of which part of America the candidate hails from. Southerners will never again vote for a president from any other part of America, because there is no Real America outside the South.

Nixon and Reagan were from California; is that part of the South? Texas is debatable, but in any event the elder Bush’s claims to be a Texan were about as credible as Hillary’s claim to be a New Yorker. Non-Southerner Bob Dole fared better in the South than Southerner Bill Clinton did in 1996. I think a more accurate statement would be that snooty, pseudo-intellectual liberals in the South and North alike know a liberal candidate when they see one, and traditional conservatives know a conservative candidate when they see one, and both vote their preferences accordingly.

But don’t mind me. I’m just another clueless neosouthern transplant myself, who has only partially mastered the art of Southern civility, so you’ll have to pardon me for suggesting your head is lodged snugly up your butt, ma’am.

‘I wonder if you’ve considered the possibility that Southerners just don’t get it when it comes to the rest of the country? ‘

We don’t have to when they’re courting our votes. And, generally, southernors don’t leave the south. HOwever, people from outside tend to move here (for the weather, i guess). hence the disconnect. When in rome, and all that.

It’s possible they don’t understand but I doubt it since the snooty intellectual stuff is piped into out homes.

I’ve lived all over and there’s not place I’d rather be. There are more toothless, inbred hillbillies in south jersey than in east tennessee.

I apologize if you find the tone here not to your liking

You did learn something while you were here

Yes, there is a reason most presidents come from the South. It’s because those snooty intellectuals recognize a good candidate when they see one, and they’ll vote for him/her regardless of which part of America the candidate hails from. Southerners will never again vote for a president from any other part of America, because there is no Real America outside the South.

After seven years in the South, I am aware that I still write and speak like a Yankee; I apologize if you find the tone here not to your liking.(We do things differently up there too) But the thoughts and questions are sincere. Besides, my neighbors say I’m making progress. I’m still the Yankee in the neighborhood, but they don’t spit the word out quite like they used to.

Any chance of transplanting enough Southerners up here to WA to outnumber the Seattle-oids?

(Of course, Ford’s a pretty wishy-washy Democrat, such that he’s not even particularly popular with rank-and-file Democrats outside his own district anyway…)

We call a woman Ma’am and we do it to be polite. We don’t do it because she’s old. When I address the 16 year-old girl who works at Target, I say Yes, ma’am.

Anyone who has worked in retail or any other customer-service-oriented field will tell you that at least 60% of the time “Ma’am” is a “polite” way of saying “Bitch.”

I guess I had to get something off my chest. No idea why I didn’t make it into a blog post. Not feeling it today, I guess.

Oh great, pick on Maryland.

Everyone up north knows we’re below the Mason-Dixon, but everyone south of here knows we stayed with the Union. What many people don’t know about is the ring of cannons that were placed by Lincoln around Baltimore… facing inwards.

Lincoln probably grew a beard after his election but before he took office partly because he had to sneak through Maryland to take his oath of Office. He even alighted from his train at Baltimore well before the station and snuck through the city. His confederates cut the telegraph line between Philadelphia and Baltimore so news of his imminent arrival might be kept secret. His empty train car was still mobbed at the station.

The first casualties of the War Between the States happened in Baltimore. Union troops shot rioting civilians on April 19th. The red and white parts of the Maryland flag were contributed by Maryland troops fighting for the south.

Of course, I can’t blame you for not realizing this. Even I, a product of the state run school system, was never taught this stuff. Some people in Maryland are ashamed of our past.

Instead, the state run indoctrination centers had us learn that the state bird was the Baltimore Oriole and the state flower was the Black-eyed Susan. We were taught that the state motto was “Manly deeds, womanly words”, and they made sure we knew how sexist that phrase was [1]. Oh, and we had to know the title of our state song “Maryland, my Maryland”, but we were never taught, nor ever sang it.

Google the lyrics to see why.

[1] it’s really “Fatti maschi, parole femmine”, and has a few translations.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fatti_maschii,_parole_femine