The Anniston Star's editorial from yesterday asks "Will the South rise again?" recalling the rather recent days when Southerners controlled the government. Considering Newt Gingrich, Haley Barbour, Dick Armey, Tom DeLay and Trent Lott, certainly the Republican Party had plenty of Southern orientation. Our last two Presidents have been Southerners yet the focus here is on Congressional leaders. A portion of the editorial reads:
... By the mid-1990s Gingrich, Armey, DeLay, Lott and a host of lesser lights from south of the Mason-Dixon line seemed to be running the show.
Then it happened. They pushed too far. Bent the rules. Said things they shouldn't have said. Did things they shouldn't have done. Got the nation into things folks concluded the nation should not have gotten into. One by one they — and those like them — fell from grace.
With the Democrats now in control of Congress and the Republican president's approval ratings sinking, it's not likely that the GOP will soon exercise the power it once had.
Even if the Republicans rise, which could happen, it is not likely that the South will rise with them. The follies and foibles of Southern Republican leaders left a bad taste in the mouths of many party members outside the region. They might be willing to make Trent Lott the second-ranking Republican in the Senate, but they want someone less controversial to lead the party.
This offers a good, object lesson for Southern Republicans. As the GOP swings back to its more moderate roots, Southern Republicans need to swing with it. ...
This makes plenty of sense to me based on the numbers and trends I'm seeing. Reminds me of the Molly Ivins cure for a chicken killing dog post from a few days ago. The GOP brand is truly tarnished, and rightly so, yet Progressivism is still far from being the default position. Peace ... or War!
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