Well he sure has gone to great lengths to distance himself, hasn’t he?
He absolutely has to stand any chance in the South.
When I visit Texas / NC for business, I always have to spend the first 15 minutes convincing the folks I am dealing with that I am not a Kennedy liberal and am a sane person that just happens to live in MA. If you are from Massachusetts today, you are guilty unless proven otherwise. That reputation is well deserved BTW as the majority of voters in this state keep re-electing left wing communist elitists like Kerry / Kennedy / Deval.
I am proud to be an American but absolutely embarrassed to be from Massachusetts.