Reply #60: One of the reasons that noone seems to be able to successfully challenge Sessions and Shelby in Ala. [View All]

is the national party's own decision to continue to "write them off as hopeless." The state party is about as useful as teats on a boar, and run by a clique of Birmingham and Montgomery attorneys and bankers.
Not a single viable candidate is being "groomed" by the state or national party to take on either the simpering idiot that is Sessions or the moron Quisling that is Shelby.
The last time we even had a primary challenger against Bud Cramer in the AL 5th was when? It seems that it is assumed in the Democratic districts that the state legislators will be reeelected, the lone non-challenged Democrat will be reelected, and that the one untainted Democrat in a contested election for the House, Artur Davis will now have the Hilliard stink removed and be in the House like Bud forever.
On a larger scale, Southern Democrats are as varied as any group that is formed from 1/3 of the nation's population. Every region within the South is different. The South is a convenient geographic term and not a cultural one per se, as aspects of "cultural southern" run a continuum from Delaware to California. Pretty hard to stereotype, save for accent and classic regional food choices, to be honest. Does immediately wincing when hearing "youse" or "you guys" make someone a Southerner? How about thinking hot biscuits with butter and sausage is the ultimate breakfast? That BBQ is a hog meat and served with slaw and a vinegar based sauce? That "right" is a perfectly good adjective, along the lines of "Rt. Honourable" or "it is meet and right so to do", as in "it rained a right smart bit yesterday"?
And as for Florida not being "southern," one would be rather hard pressed to make a good point of that, as the state is being rapidly "southernized" by the natives, and the children of the Michigan and NJ natives who moved south are now growing up hearing "y'all" and other southernisms in school. I even know a family who were all from East Harlem then moved to Ocala and now the children wear cowboy boots and have southern accents and have lost their Puertorican identities save for family reunions!
No, the South is not all Southern Baptist and voter of Republicans, no more than everyone in the Five Boroughs are either Jewish or Catholic, live in high rises and vote Democratic.