I've been reading all the usual post-election punditry, much of it with a great deal of amusment. What the hell, if they can do it, I've got bandwidth too.

Some of the debate amongst Dems has to do with a Southern strategy. The James Carville's of the party continue to beat the drum for the need to woo the south, including putting a southerner like Harold Ford Jr. into the DNC leadership. Others like Thomas Schaller ask, do we need a southern strategy at all and seemingly answering with a qualified "no".

Both make interesting arguments to which I say "yes" to both and "no" to both.

Here's the big difference. Carville notion that we need a "southern strategy" smacks of inside the beltway consultatism. His point seems to be that the party needs to move to the right in order to attract southern voters. In other words, strategize our message to cobble together a dominating majority that straddles the ideological divide. I call that pandering. Schaller, on the other hand, seems to be saying that we take advantage of opportunities when they present themselves, but that's all due to the significant majorities to be had elsewhere in the country.

My point of view is the Howard Dean approach. Continue to build a nationwide party from the ground up. In the south, that's going to take a long time as the party moves upstream against the inherent racism, fundamentalism, and tribal identification with the GOP's wedge issues. But over time, the Democrats have much to offer the south, particularly economic populism and competent governance. Plus, the tides of migration, immigration, and cospolitanization (I made that up) moving into the south will do the trick much like is happening in Virginia (withness Webb over Allen).

This approach is essentially one that says the party will change the south, not that the south will change the party. Of course that is a bit overstated, but you get the drift. The time should be past where the cynicism of overt pandering to voters is considered an effective strategy. Schaller postulates that pandering played a part in Ford Jr.'s loss in Tenn. as he tried to "out-southern" Corker .... and failed. John Kerry's campaign should have borne that out as well. Our candidates need to be genuine in their beliefs and demeanor. Be that, and they will vote your way and eventually the time will be right for the south to shift.