As a Californian, I feel a little bit left out by all of this "write off the South" debate. Sure, I'm a Southern Californian, so I can technically claim that I am a part of the South, but I would probably be promptly kicked out by one of those Southern white males.
This debate doesn't seem to be South-against-the-rest-of-the-USA discussion so much as a Northeast-liberal-vs.-Southern-Democrat argument. All of this debate seems rather counterproductive now that we've taken back the House and the Senate. We have work to do, and sparking fights with one another isn't helping. By the way, do you like that straw man I just set up? I bought it 20% off at Wal-Mart's Thanksgiving sale.
Anyway, I've spent a long time (the past 24 hours) thinking about how we can bring an end to this debate. And after doing plenty of extensive research which purely supports my world view while disregarding any counterarguments, I have come up with an innovative - yet effective - answer.
Write off everything East of the Mississippi River.
(Note: if you need to see what's East of the Mississippi then try here.)
Now, some election "experts" will immediately say, "Hey, most of the population is East of the Mississippi...we can't possibly win any national elections like that." And they would be right - our current electoral map has an incredible 313 Presidential electoral votes East of the Mississippi, compared to 225 in the West. These concern trolls should be disregarded, however, for the following reasons:
- Most of America, by land mass, is West of the Mississippi. Imagine what would happen if the entire Western side turned blue but a Republican still won the Presidency. There would be an outcry across the nation about how the will of the majority has not been served. After all, the map would show it!
- Think of the population shift that would happen if we abandoned the liberal Northeast! Imagine this: we stop providing national funding to Northeastern Democrats. Surely, without national funding, a Republican wave would immediately wash over the region. Those true blue "Massachusetts liberals" would then have no choice but to hit The Oregon Trail. By the time the 2010 census hit, almost all of the liberals will have moved West, increasing our number of electoral votes and representatives. Idaho, Nebraska and Texas would become our new Democratic strongholds. But it's critical that we start right now.
- "But there's a critical Presidential election in 2008!" you scream. Calm down. Remember in 1988, when Michael Dukakis lost by 315 electoral votes? New York, Massachusetts, Rhode Island and DC still voted Democratic, and have ever sense. We can surely rely on them in 2008. That's 50 votes right there. Provided we turn every state West of the Mississippi blue, we win the Presidency. House and Senate? They don't matter. Everybody knows about the unitary power of the Executive.
- Win or lose, this is about principles. If there's something us Democrats can't stand more than a Republican, it's a Republican-lite (their crime: great taste, but less filling). Let's not pander to those who do not share our principles. It only results in weird stuff like cross-country scoring. I would rather lose with honor than win with a methodology that I don't understand.
Now, we all know that national funding is the #1 thing that wins elections (above grassroots efforts, local fundraising and good candidates). If we just shift all of our national funding west then we can make this work. I call this new and innovative approach to elections the "Western Civilization strategy." Somehow, "24-state strategy" just didn't have a ring to it (it implies that we can't get 50 senators). Feel free to amend the strategy as long as it stays with our core tenet - we keep everything West of the Mississippi and abandon everything to the East.
In closing, Daily Kosmonauts, it is obvious that a civil war is erupting across our Eastern coast. We must let them work out their differences on their own, but also take steps to ensure that we protect our Democratic majority. Anybody is welcome to help - as long as they're from a Western state.
Now if you'll excuse me, my straw man just fell over. That's what I get for buying something that's Made in China.