I see. Is that really a big enough problem as to hand the South back to the Democrats if Rice is on the ticket? I have my doubts about that. It's not like they are promoting Condi as a *spouse* for the running mate. You seem to presume a lot from a photo of the two hand-in-hand.
BTW, I lived in Mobile for awhile and visit Baldwin County frequently because of my mother and sister. I know a little bit about their politics more than the average guy.
Baldwin County is not the problem, they voted to repeal the interracial marriage ban.
The problem is, when you take the small urban/suburban counties and combine them with the Black Belt counties, there is somewhat of a mollification factor (not to mention, some Democratic N. Ala counties didn't vote to keep the ban, so i couldn't include them)
Basically, the pro-ban counties in general, were closer to the statewide pulse in every election on here, than were either high population suburban counties or the Big 4.
And there were people in the Big 4 who voted to keep the ban, there are many counties which didn't make it on the list because the repeal passed by maybe a few percentage points.
I don't like admitting it, but it would be a big issue, and when you add on top of this that Condi is a woman, and by in large, one of those polished women. It spells real trouble out in the hinterlands.