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There is much hand-wringing now in Washington about the inability of Republicans and Democrats to compromise even on seemingly unimportant issues. I think it is the inevitable result of long-term trends going back 100 years. The movement started in 1913 with the 17th Amendment to the Constitution. This requires election of senators by popular vote. As provided by the Founding Fathers, senators previously were elected by state legislatures. Before the 17th Amendment, senators represented states as states. This made the states much more significant players in national politics -- collectively coequal to the national government in our federal system. But...

BATON ROUGE — Amid criticism that the Louisiana Democratic Party has abandoned black voters and lost its focus, the head of a Fortune 500 company was chosen Saturday as the party's chairman. James Bernhard, the top official at The Shaw Group Inc., was the unanimous selection of the Democratic State Central Committee. He replaces Mike Skinner, a former U.S. attorney, who quit late last year after the party took a battering in the fall elections. Bernhard had the support of such top Democrats as Gov. Kathleen Blanco, U.S. Sen. Mary Landrieu and U.S. Rep. William Jefferson. After his election, Bernhard...

Two 800-pound gorillas sat in the room with the Georgia Democratic Executive Committee in Atlanta last weekend as it met to chart a new course in the wake of its party's devastating election losses. Most of the assembled Democrats tried to pretend the beasts were not there. Named Gay Marriage and Abortion Rights, the gorillas remained silent wallflowers as old-timers Bert Lance and Andy Young told stories of the party's golden years. Bobby Kahn led cheers for future greatness.Talk filled the air about targeting voters, recruiting candidates, raising money and even selecting a new national party chairman. But no ranking...

If Tuesday's election returns were a bitter pill for Democrats nationally, they were pure poison for Democrats in the South. Five formerly Democratic U.S. Senate seats were up for grabs. Republicans swept them all. Superficially, the results simply continued the region's long-running shift into the embrace of the GOP. In a fractured nation, however, the aftershocks may be felt for years to come. On Capitol Hill, Republicans have fattened their Senate majority to at least 55 with a batch of young conservatives likely to be deeply loyal to President Bush and his agenda. U.S. Sen. Jeff Sessions, R-Mobile, already plans...

Reporter: Lisa Millar HAMISH ROBERTSON: Now to the United States, where, with the opinion polls putting the presidential candidates John Kerry and George W. Bush at a dead heat, Democrats are discovering they can't count on some states that were once considered their party's heartland. In America's south, even some registered Democrats look set to throw their support behind Mr Bush. Our North America correspondent Lisa Millar compiled this report in Louisiana. LISA MILLAR: When the temperature drops, and the leaves start falling, it means just one thing to Louisiana locals – squirrel hunting season. RICHARD TAYLOR: I try and...

A Georgia Democrat who's adamently and openly proclaimed his strong allegiance to the Democratic party while having denounced various groups who'd expressed hope for a flip over was the most Conservative candidate at the Republican Convention. [Besides our President]. Small wonder that some on the far right are leaving our party for third parties such as the Constitution party. I'm certainly not anywhere near far right, but why not include at least one Conservative Republican at the convention to satisfy those who have stronger Conservative view within our party? In 2000 it seemed to be minority speakers, in 2004 it's...

Bouquets of roses were placed on doors to the clerk of superior court’s office in Fayetteville Tuesday in memory of long-time former clerk W.A. “Bud” Ballard, who died Monday. Ballard, 78, is survived by his wife, Jo Ballard, and several nieces and nephews. A graveside service will be held today at 2 p.m. at Woolsey Baptist Church. The family will receive visitors at Mowell Funeral Home prior to the service between 11 a.m. and 1:30 p.m. Ballard first took office in 1969 when Fayette County had a population of just over 11,000. Ballard saw the office grow tremendously in his...

ARLINGTON, VA – Today, State Rep. Charlie McDonald (D-LA), Louisiana Democrats for Bush Chairman, issued the following statement on John Edwards' visit to Louisiana: "John Kerry says Democrats make a 'mistake' in looking to the South for votes, but Southern Democrats aren't going to make the mistake of looking to John Kerry. Kerry doesn't have much credibility in the South after telling rural voters that he represents their 'conservative values' despite being ranked the Senate's most out-of-the-mainstream member, and Kerry isn't taking us seriously considering his decision to stop competing in Louisiana. "Kerry and his running mate both voted for...

Neshoba County, Miss. Governor Haley Barbour criticized Senator John Kerry and praised Mississippi at the Neshoba County Fair today. Last year at this time, Barbour was campaigning for the office of governor. Thursday he used the fair to praise Mississippi's accomplishments. "The fair was great to me last year, and it’s a great tradition. But this is also an opportunity for me to talk about what we have done, to thank the legislature for passing some of the things I proposed. And also the future, what we are going to do for education, to make sure we have a strong...

Mississippi Dems more conservative Magnolia man among those working for more moderate position By Ernest Herndon The Enterprise-Journal Mississippi’s Democratic Party platform is more conservative than the national platform, thanks in part to arguments by conservative Democrats like the Rev. William Brown of Magnolia, said state party platform committee chairman Rep. Jamie Franks of Tupelo. At the recent state convention, Brown and others argued for more conservative positions on the issues of abortion and gay and lesbian marriage. The platform committee took those arguments into consideration, and the state platform reflects them, Franks said. Under the topic of “choice,” the...

Dear Neighbors of the 10th District, Thank you for taking the time to look over my Platform. I believe that the Democratic Party has an economic policy, which serves the greater interests of the Constituency of this District. On social issues, however, I am conservative and I list some of those conservative social positions immediately below. I am Pro Life I support the ban on Partial Birth Abortion I support the Death Penalty and all due process as provided by law I am an advocate of School Prayer and the Pledge of Allegiance I support the 10 Commandments. I support...

Democrat Inez Tenenbaum staked out an independent course for herself Saturday in her first major address since announcing her candidacy for the U.S. Senate. Her message was clear: She’ll be her own person. “I will go to Washington and serve not on behalf of one party or one ideology,” she said, “but on behalf of one person and one state. “That is where I stand. I won’t back down. I won’t compromise,” Tenenbaum vowed in a 20-minute speech before some 2,000 delegates, alternates and guests attending the South Carolina Democratic Convention. Tenenbaum is seeking her party’s nomination for the U.S....

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Christine Iverson 202-863-8614 Washington, DC — An analysis of key votes in advance of the Southern Republican Leadership Conference this weekend in Florida shows that Senator Kerry is out of step with both Republicans and Democrats in the South.On issues ranging from support for the President’s middle class tax cuts to funding for troops in Iraq, to the Defense of Marriage Act to the ban on Partial Birth Abortion, John Kerry has consistently voted against issues supported by his Democrat colleagues in the Senate who represent constituents in Southern states.“Once again, John Kerry’s greatest problem is...

JACKSON, Miss. - Southern District Public Service Commissioner Michael Callahan told The Associated Press on Monday that he's becoming a Republican because he no longer feels comfortable as a Democrat. "Over the past couple of years, it's just something that has been brewing. I think there's a lot of Democratic politicians out there that are like me," Callahan, 36, said. "The Democratic Party here in Mississippi is moving more to the left and it's becoming tougher and tougher for conservative politicians like myself to find a place in the party," he said. Mississippi Republican Party chairman Jim Herring of Canton...

<p>Speaking to a civic club Monday in Starkville, Dale, a Democrat, said the majority of voters — particularly many white voters — feel the national Democratic Party has deserted them.</p> <p>"The party has lost the support of its base in the Deep South because of unpopular stances it has taken on base cultural issues important to voters in the South," he said.</p>

Dear Friend, I want you to know about an historic event that is happening tomorrow, March 24, 2004. Senator Zell Miller, a Democrat from Georgia, will endorse President George W. Bush for re-election. As many of you know, Senator Miller has never endorsed a Republican for President. He is taking this drastic measure because he believes that George W. Bush has shown leadership in defending our national security, courage in lowering the tax burder for Americans, and integrity in his service to our nation. This event will take place at the Park Hyatt, 1201 24th Street, NW in Washington D.C....

COLUMBIA, S.C. - Myrtle Beach state Sen. Luke Rankin plans to switch to the Republican Party, South Carolina GOP officials said Tuesday. Rankin has served District 33 as a Democrat since 1993. In an open letter to the residents of Horry County, Rankin wrote that he has considered which party affiliation would allow him to best serve his constituents. "Because of recent rules changes in the South Carolina Senate, which require key leadership positions and committee assignments based on party affiliation as well as seniority, I am now certain that the needs of Horry County can be better served if...

<p>Congressional black Democrats said comparisons shouldn't be made between the struggle by homosexuals to legalize same-sex "marriage" and the civil rights movement of the 1960s.</p> <p>Members of the Congressional Black Caucus said they are on shaky ground with their constituents after the presumptive Democratic nominee Sen. John Kerry compared the two issues during a town hall meeting in Jackson, Miss., last week.</p>

<p>Fifth District U.S. Rep. Rodney Alexander is considering switching from the Democratic Party to the Republican Party, he confirmed late Thursday afternoon.</p> <p>"I'd be misleading you if I said I haven't talked to the Republican leadership about it," said Alexander of Quitman. "I'll make a decision within the next few days."</p>

As Georgia Democrats head to the polls to choose a presidential nominee on Super Tuesday, the red clay on the soles of their shoes may be about the only thing that distinguishes them from Democrats elsewhere on national issues. Like voters in other Democratic primaries, they are dissatisfied with, if not downright angry at, President Bush; worried about jobs, health care and education; and upset about the war in Iraq, according to a new Atlanta Journal-Constitution/WSB-TV poll conducted by Zogby International. Jean Morgan, 68, a retired nurse from Cartersville, hasn't decided whether to vote for front-runner Sen. John Kerry of...

Pastors send 'clear' message Gay marriage weighs on black legislators By JIM THARPE The Atlanta Journal-Constitution Published on: 02/29/04 Black state lawmakers such as Randal Mangham and Al Williams have had to battle not only Republicans over a proposed constitutional ban on same-sex marriage. They also have had to explain themselves to a much more relevant and morally conservative force in their communities — the politically powerful black church. "I've had people call me who are pastors who said, 'Mangham, just do the right thing. Don't bow to special interests, and remember who you are,' " said the Democratic lawmaker,...

The Georgia House of Representatives rejected by three votes a constitutional amendment banning gay marriage Thursday evening. Debate on the controversial measure began at 2:50 p.m. and wrapped up at about 6:15 p.m. The first speaker of the GOP-sponsored measure was a Democrat who urged its passage. Mike Boggs (D-Waycross) said lawmakers had an opportunity to protect the state against “activist judges” who might try to overturn the state law that bars same-sex marriage. “Whether you’re a Democrat or a Republican, we have seldom had an opportunity to stand up for things that are common-sensical, things that stand up for...

There is great celebration in the news media about John Kerry’s recent victories in the South over both John Edwards and Wesley Clark. Their hyperbolae maintains that Kerry’s victories in Virginia and Tennessee demonstrate that he can win, indeed carry, the South for the Democrats in November. But not so fast. The media fail to tell the rest of the story to the American people.What has Kerry actually won? Their “analysis” completely fails to tell you that Kerry’s victory is a shallow victory among a very narrow number of Democrat Party activists in the South.The actual turnout of Democrats in...

Kerry Faces Daunting Task to Carry South Thursday February 12, 2004 2:48am Washington (AP) - Decorated war veteran or not, Democratic presidential front-runner John Kerry (website/newsbio) faces a daunting task if he looks South for success against President Bush (website/newsbio) next fall, according to strategists in his own party. At the same time, some Democrats fret that apart from fighting for Florida, the man from Massachusetts will quickly write off the region, reducing his maneuvering room if the race turns close. "I think it still has to be considered part of the Bush base," said Jim Duffy, a Democratic consultant...

BEN Jones, a political expert on the rural southern vote, had some urgent advice to offer Senator John Kerry, the Democratic presidential contender whose nationwide lead is marred by doubts over his ability to win down south. But first, Mr Jones had to sign the t-shirt of an awestruck 12-year-old boy, who had spotted him having lunch at a Virginia roadhouse. After that, he had to sign autographs for three waitresses, four grown-up customers and the manager. For Mr Jones is not just a shrewd and well-connected Democratic theoretician. He also once played Cooter the car mechanic in the television...

PBS’s Now on with Bill Moyers on Friday night delivered the usual liberal media perspective on Southern politics and the history of the two political parties. Setting up a series of segments with liberal guests complaining about appeals by conservatives and Republicans to racist sentiments held by whites, co-host David Brancaccio recalled how “when the Democratic Party embraced civil rights, the old political order began to fall apart -- 1964 was the watershed moment when legendary South Carolina Senator Strom Thurmond turned Republican.” In fact, Democrats, such as House Speakers Tip O’Neill and Jim Wright, held power for another 25...

heard rush play a segment that ran on the "Today Show" (gag) where Couric was interviewing Brokaw about the S.C. primary. Brokaw said something about the black voters there being different. Can't find the transcript anywhere but the little bit I heard sounded devastating. Anyone have a link?

It was no accident that John Edwards, fresh off strong performances in predominantly white Iowa and New Hampshire, came to Allen Temple AME Church yesterday, surrounding himself with an auditorium full of African Americans and aiming a pitch at their interests. "We live in a country and I don't have to tell y'all this, but we're still divided by race," Edwards told the crowd that packed one of this city's largest black churches, where the only other candidate in attendance was the Rev. Al Sharpton, the only black in the race. Edwards proclaimed his support for affirmative action, promised to...

"There goes the South for a generation," Lyndon Johnson is said to have predicted as he signed the 1964 Civil Rights Act into law. Actually, it's been two generations, but otherwise Johnson was dead-on. For 40 years, the Democratic Party begged Southern Democrats to return to the fold. Always undignified, this pleading eventually become futile as well... http://slate.msn.com/id/2094552/

The Other White Flight Can Democrats ever regain the support of Southern whites? BY KEVIN GRIFFIS Carlton Sparks is the reason the GOP has a stranglehold on the South. With his wife Cindi and their 17-year-old son Andrew, he lives in a tan, one-story home off a country road surrounded by mountains. His kitchen walls are wood-paneled, covered with Cracker Barrel-style knickknacks and a pair of decorative, cloth bouquet hangings. Sparks, 49, makes a good living for a resident of Blairsville, GA. He pulls in more than $45,000 a year from Blue Ridge Mountain Electric Membership Corporation, where he works...

"I watched the demonstrators as they came to Washington, and the advocates for life, and the number of 42 million human beings having been killed because of Roe vs. Wade," Democratic Sen. Zell Miller of Georgia told me last week in an interview for Human Events, "and it just grabbed ahold of me very strongly that what if one of my four great-grandchildren or four grandchildren had been one of those that never did get to enjoy the life that they have now." I asked: "So, now you've actually come all the way around to the opinion that you would...

<p>CHESTER, S.C. — Exhibit A in the decline of the Democratic Party in the South: the meteoric rise of Chester County party chair Alex Wylie. The retired mechanic was not the likeliest candidate for the county’s top Democratic job. He only recently got interested in politics, he said, nursing a cup of black coffee last week at Gene’s Restaurant, where a two-man tree saw hung on the wall reads, ‘‘Best Food You Ever Saw.’’ Wylie has even voted Republican.</p>

WASHINGTON - U.S. Rep. Jim Turner, the highest-ranking Democrat on the House Select Committee on Homeland Security, will not seek re-election after his district was significantly altered under Texas' new Republican-drawn congressional map. "I have no realistic opportunity to seek re-election to Congress," he said in a news release this week. Turner, who said in the release he would finish out his term, wouldn't comment further Thursday. His 19-county, rural East Texas district was split among six predominantly Republican and more urban-suburban districts. His hometown of Crockett is now in the district represented by Rep. Joe Barton, R-Ennis. The redistricting...

<p>The Washington that Senator John Breaux is leaving is a vastly different place than the capital the Louisiana Democrat arrived in 35 years ago in a rented U-Haul truck. A pragmatic moderate and consummate dealmaker, Breaux has come to feel like a crawfish out of water in the poisonous partisan swamp of Capitol Hill, where, as he put it in announcing his retirement on Dec. 15, "cooperation and legitimate compromise between our political parties [is now] seen as political failure."</p>

<p>The South: Will The Last Dem Turn Out The Lights?</p> <p>The Washington that Senator John Breaux is leaving is a vastly different place than the capital the Louisiana Democrat arrived in 35 years ago in a rented U-Haul truck. A pragmatic moderate and consummate dealmaker, Breaux has come to feel like a crawfish out of water in the poisonous partisan swamp of Capitol Hill, where, as he put it in announcing his retirement on Dec. 15, "cooperation and legitimate compromise between our political parties [is now] seen as political failure."</p>

<p>WASHINGTON — Rep. Gene Taylor, a veteran member of Mississippi's U.S. House delegation, may become one of the White House's biggest headaches next year.</p> <p>One of the most conservative House Democrats, Taylor often votes with the GOP but may be a more loyal Democrat next year because he's angry with President Bush's proposal to shut down more military bases.</p>

Rural white Democrats lose Mississippi Legislature The Daily Journal By Bobby Harrison JACKSON - For the first time since the post-Civil War era, rural white Democrats will not be a majority or a plurality in the Mississippi House. The rural white Democrats lost their stranglehold on the state Senate last term. Their dominance over the Mississippi House will no longer exist once the 2004 legislative session begins, thanks to party switchers during the past year and thanks to this past November's elections. The Democrats still control the House and Senate. In the House, the Democrats hold a commanding 76-46 advantage,...

Southern White Male Democrats, Where Ya At? By State Rep. Erik Flemming (D-MS) As the dust settles after another election year, here is a request to those individuals who place missing persons on milk cartons: could you help us find the real Southern white male Democrats? It is obvious that they are MIA when it comes to local and national politics. Case in point: in the recent campaign by incumbent Democratic Mississippi Governor Ronnie Musgrove, he ran ads that said he was conservative and independent. He never once mentioned that he was the Democratic nominee for re-election. Many in the...

<p>Some Southern Democratic leaders believe presidential candidate Howard Dean is "too liberal" to win the region if he is the party's nominee in a contest against President Bush.</p> <p>Interviews with Democratic chairmen throughout the Southern and border states elicit a range of surprisingly frank emotions about the party's feisty, Northeastern front-runner — from impressive to wait-and-see discomfort to fear that his liberal views on Iraq, tax cuts and social issues once again would allow Mr. Bush to sweep the region, as he did in 2000 against Al Gore.</p>

Howard Dean wants to be "the candidate for the guys with Confederate flags in their pickup trucks." Al Sharpton would rather confront people with Confederate flags. Senator Zell Miller claims the Democratic Party has lost the south because elitist northern and California liberals who view the south as a combination of "Gone With The Wind" and "Deliverance" dominate the party. I'm weighting in on this kerfuflle because, I resemble that remark! I'm a white guy, born and raised in the south. I don't own a Confederate flag, but I do drive a truck and I am an avid hunter...

South Carolina Democrats are a different breed than their cohorts in Iowa and New Hampshire, according to a survey of voters in states with key early contests in the presidential race. They tend to be a bit more conservative, pro-military, less anti-war, more supportive of tax cuts, and place greater importance on faith and religion. However, they are united with fellow Democrats in their hostility toward President Bush. The poll was conducted by a Democratic advocacy group called the Democracy Corps. The group was founded by three prominent Democrats — Stanley Greenberg, who supervised the survey, media consultant Robert Shrum...

Complaining that the antiwar rhetoric used by some of the Democratic presidential candidates is putting the lives of American soldiers at risk, retiring Sen. Zell Miller, D-Ga, announced Wednesday night that he was backing President Bush for reelection. Contending that the harsh attacks directed at the Bush White House over the Iraq were aiding America's enemies, Miller told Fox News Channel's Sean Hannity, "It makes me ashamed. It's a disgrace for anyone to talk about -- talk like that in a time of war." Miller then blasted his fellow Dems, saying, "Using this war for political advantage can only...

SENATOR ZELL MILLER OF GEORGIA, the nation's most prominent conservative Democrat, said today he will endorse President Bush for re-election in 2004 and campaign for him if Bush wishes him to. Miller said Bush is "the right man at the right time" to govern the country. The next five years "will determine the kind of world my children and grandchildren will live in," Miller said in an interview. And he wouldn't "trust" any of the nine Democratic presidential candidates with governing during "that crucial period," he said. "This Democrat will vote for President Bush in 2004." Miller, who is retiring...

The South is shaping up as a key battleground for control of the U.S. Senate in 2004, which is terrible news for the Democrats. The most significant races that will determine the outcome are here, in the GOP’s bedrock. The Senate consists of 50 Republicans, 49 Democrats and one independent. In 2004, Democrats must defend three Southern U.S. Senate seats, and possibly more: • ; Fritz Hollings of South Carolina chose to retire rather than seek a seventh full term after 38 years in office. • ; John Edwards of North Carolina chose to campaign full time for the Democratic...

<p>Democrats in South Carolina don't sound a whole lot like Democrats in many other parts of the country, and it's not just because of that venerable Southern accent.</p> <p>In this part of the country, party faithful often prefer talk of individualism, religion and the American flag over discussions about labor, gay marriage and abortion.</p>

<p>LEXINGTON, S.C. -- Nearly 40 years have passed since Preston Callison lost a race for Congress, yet the lesson remains with him today. For a Democrat to win in South Carolina, he says, the key is: ''Don't act like one.''</p>