Introduction

Abstract

ESSAY The Culture ofSouthern Politics Introduction Ferrel Guillory he elections of 1992, 1994, and 1996 have given commentators plenty of evidence to assert that American politics has been thoroughly "southernized." President Clinton is from Arkansas, Vice President Gore from Tennessee, House Speaker Newt Gingrich from Georgia, Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott from Mississippi, and House Majority Leader Dick Armey from Texas. What's more, so this line of reasoning goes, the nation focuses on themes—race and religion , crime and family values, tax-cutting and budget-balancing—all of which have deep roots in the conservative soil of the South. But, whoever suggests that the political southernization of America has come to pass must also reckon with what has come to pass in southern politics. Long gone are the days of one-party, whites-only, out-of-the-mainstream politics. When he signed the Voting Rights Act three decades ago, LyndonJohnson knew that he was setting in motion a transformation of the region's politics. To look at the South close-up is to see a politics that is anything but one dimensional . The rule of rural Democratic barons has been broken as population and jobs have shifted from the countryside to the city and suburb. Blacks walk into voting booths and hold elective offices from which they were once barred. Republicans out-number Democrats among southern governors, senators, and representatives. The reality these days is that the South produces a diverse set of officeholders, and that it is possible to be both genuinely southern and genuinely different in style and ideology. These days, the South is capable of producing a Bill Clinton and a Newt Gingrich , aJohn Breaux and a Strom Thurmond, a Zell Miller and a Kirk Fordice, a Cynthia McKinney and a Sue Myrick, and, finally, a David Price and a Tom DeLay . It is important to understand the currents and cross-currents behind politics in the South, because the region, once so out of sync, now often serves as a leading indicator ofnational trends and as a wellspring ofnational power. The authors of the essays assembled in this special section of Southern Cultures cast trained, experienced eyes across the South's political landscape, seeking not 16 Voters line up on an election day in North Carolina. Courtesy ofthe News <& ObserverPublishing Co., Raleigh, North Carolina. to perpetuate myths but to illuminate reality. These essays are not filled with southern political war stories of the good ol'—or bad ol'—days. Rather, the collection aims to explainwhy the South's politics remains so richly fascinating, even ifdevoid ofthe old-time demagogues that so defined the region. The collection opens with a pair of essays, offering first a Republican, then a Democratic perspective on the modern two-party South. Whit Ayres, a leading GOP pollster, and his colleague Jon McHenry foresee a consolidation, even extension , ofRepublican gains. Mac McCorkle, a Democratic policy analyst, recognizes the Democrats' dilemmas, while suggesting a strategic vision for the party. Cole Blease Graham Jr., a South Carolina political scientist, traces how his state has moved from the grip ofDemocrats to the equally tight grip ofRepublicans —and how South Carolina Republicans have positioned their presidential primary as a virtual nominee-maker. My essay, which follows Graham's, looks at the paradox that has been at the core ofNorth Carolina politics for a quarter of a century—that the same electorate of a southern state has elected Jim Hunt, a moderate, pro-schools Democrat, governor for four terms, and Jesse Helms, a far-right Republican ideologue, U.S. senator for five terms. Natalie Davis and Thad Beyle provide fresh insights into politics and moneyin the South. Davis, who teachers political science and has polled her state for years, as well as run for office, tells a cautionary tale, warning that the intense interestThe Culture ofSouthern Politics ?? group competition afflicting Alabama could spread beyond its state lines. Beyle traces the trends in spending on gubernatorial campaigns and explains why some campaigns cost more than others. As elsewhere in the nation, women have made gains in southern politics, but Sue Tolleson-Rinehart argues that the South still lags behind in electing women to office. The collection closes with a short, yet thoughtful, reflection on race and politics by State Representative Dan Blue ofRaleigh, the first black speaker ofthe North Carolina General Assembly. A recurring dilemma for students ofthe South is determining which states are southern. We resolved the dilemma by letting authors do it their way. Beyle adds up campaign financing in fourteen states. Ayres and McHenry analyze thirteen states, while McCorkle and Tolleson-Rinehart deal with the eleven states of the Old Confederacy. Agrantfrom the Z. Smith Reynolds Foundation to the University ofNorth Carolina-ChapelHillProgram on Southern Polines, Media andPublic Ufe helped make this collection ofessayspossible. I 8 FERREL OUlLLORY ...