Northern Strategy and Anti-South Polemics: A Review Essay of Thomas Schaller's Whistling Past Dixie
As the first unambiguous Southerner to be elected president since the antebellum era, Jimmy Carter was viewed at the time as a symbol that North-South reconciliation had finally come to pass. A quarter-century later, there are growing signs that the intersectional peace may be ending. This article shows that as Southerners, regardless of party, have steadily gained political power since the 1960s, various commentators have argued that the regional power shift presents serious negative consequences for the parties and the country and must be stopped. Thomas Schaller's widely cited, much heralded book Whistling Past Dixie is but the latest example. More than arguing that Democrats need to find an alternative, non-southern route to victory, Schaller suggests that Democrats must have the guts to run against the South, portraying it as the enemy once more of all that is good and right with America. It is a book that combines sectional strategy and sectional substance.
©2011 Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co. KG, Berlin/Boston
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- Review
- Northern Strategy and Anti-South Polemics: A Review Essay of Thomas Schaller's Whistling Past Dixie
- Reply to Berggren on Whistling Past Dixie
Articles in the same Issue
- Article
- Bloomberg Triumphant: The Collapse of Democratic Hegemony in New York City
- Rural Voters in Presidential Elections, 1992-2004
- The Decline of the American Superpower
- The Ideology of Moderate Republicans in the House
- Situating the New 527 Organizations in Interest Group Theory
- Auditioning for President: Fred Thompson, Leading Man or Part Time Player?
- Measuring Opinions vs. Non-Opinions - The Case of the USA Patriot Act
- Turning Up the Heat on Global Environmental Governance
- Rudy and Mike: Will Either of the Mayors Who Saved New York Get the Chance to Save America?
- Review
- Northern Strategy and Anti-South Polemics: A Review Essay of Thomas Schaller's Whistling Past Dixie
- Reply to Berggren on Whistling Past Dixie