Carolina Blue
Thursday, November 06 2008
by
Barack Obama's strong showing in Southern states may be an indicator of bigger changes in the southern electorate. UNC Chapel Hill professor Ferrel Guillory says it's significant that the Obama campaign rejected conventional wisdom to campaign hard in the South. Guillory says Obama's campaign saw the glimmer of an opportunity in Southern states where John Kerry had a stronger than expected showing in 2004. He says old voting coalitions are eroding and it's not clear what the new coalitions will be.
"What the Obama campaign has demonstrated is that in certain places in the South, in some of the growing states of the South, the most economically robust states of the South there's an opportunity for Democrats to build, to rebuild and to become even more competitive than they have been in the last 25 years."
Guillory says the make up of those coalitions will depend on the success or failure of Obama's first term.
More Election 2008 stories from WUNC News and The State of Things are available here
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