Now, I would like to disagree with the author (Matt Bai) on two points...

First: He argues that the loss of the South for the Democrats was due to desegregation, which is no doubt party true. But if that's the case, what does he mean when he says Democrats have to run a candidate who "resonates in the south..."

As I see it, the Democrats are already suffering from a retreat in their values. Pandering to isolationist extremists still absorbed in racism and a antebellum culture of violence is not the way to win the country, its a way to lose your credibility.

On the other hand, I think Mr. Bai stereotypes the South as most Northerners have, by presuming that it is and always has been a land of Bible-belt anti-government racists and redneck gun nuts.

The truth is the South is not nearly so monolithic as pundits portray it. Southerners are not as backwards, not as ignorant, and not as conservative as most political analysts think.

The Democrats need to Awaken the Radical So