Wall Street Journal Article

The New Southern Strategy

Greg Hitt

The Wall Street Journal

AUGUST 07, 2008

Democrats Tap Conservative Candidates in GOP Bastions

PRATTVILLE, Ala --

This is how shaky Republican fortunes are in 2008: In one of the most conservative corners of the conservative South, Democrats stand a good chance of winning a congressional seat.[Bobby Bright]This working-class, mostly rural district has been controlled by Republicans since 1964, when Alabama's white electorate began its long turn away from the Democratic Party. In 2004, President George W. Bush won 67% of the district's vote.

Today's leading candidate is Bobby Bright, a self-styled "Southern conservative" and sharecropper's son from remote Alabama farm country. In another era, he would have run as a Republican. But he's a Democrat, and early polls strongly suggest he can win.Spurred by the souring economy and a newfound willingness to embrace conservative candidates, the Democratic Party is running its most competitive campaign across the South in 40 years, fielding potential winners along a rib of states stretching from Louisiana to Virginia, the heart of the Old Confederacy. Sen. Barack Obama's ability to excite African-American voters in certain Southern races could provide an additional boost, too.

The party's rising prospects point toward a once unthinkable goal: a reversal of the "Great Reversal," the switch in political loyalties in the 1960s that made the South a Republican stronghold for a generation.

If the current picture holds, Democrats could use the Southern strength to help craft a workable Senate majority and expand their majority in the House of Representatives. At the very least, it widens the field of competitive seats, forcing Republicans to fight fires in once-reliably solid areas."This is clearly new territory," says Maryland Rep. Chris Van Hollen, the Democratic Party's chief strategist for House races.

The story of Mr. Bright, the current mayor of Montgomery, could have been sketched by Robert Penn Warren, the novelist who famously captured the essence of Southern populism. Stocky and square-shouldered, Mr. Bright professes a love of chicken livers and is a deacon in Montgomery's First Baptist Church. Despite nearly a decade in politics, he is still a bit rough around the edges: A poster on the wall of his campaign office, scrawled in black marker, reminds Mr. Bright to say "please" when making fund-raising calls.

Mr. Bright toyed with the idea of running as a Republican. He spoke with party activists "and prayed on it." But he decided that he felt more at home with the Democrats, whom he describes as the party of working people and the party of diversity."The Republican Party has done a wonderful job of making it appear that you don't have a choice," said Mr. Bright, standing on a sidewalk in downtown Prattville, dabbing at sweat beading on his forehead. "But that's changing. That's changing with me."

"Party means less today than it has in my lifetime in Alabama," says state Rep. David Grimes, who lost to Mr. Love in the nomination battle for the congressional seat. Mr. Grimes says the mayor's ties to southeast Alabama, especially his blue-collar upbringing and conservative values, will serve him well in November."I tell you this: Bobby Bright is going to be the man to beat."

HR