Andy Anderson is a junior majoring in secondary education. He can be contacted at [email protected]. Grassroot campaigns are springing up throughout the South, and whether we like it or not, political season is just beginning and the once Confederate states have suddenly become vitally important for camps on both sides of the ticket.
Most would agree that never in the history of the United States has an election been so diverse and widespread while the masses remain divided between the candidates.
On the Democratic side, the ticket is split between the first serious woman candidate, a popular African-American senator and a former vice presidential nominee who also happens to be a son of the South.
On the GOP side, voters can choose between a well-known conservative vet, a successful governor from a blue-dominated state, a liberal “republicrat” from New York or a preacher praying for wins on Super Tuesday. (Not to mention some congressman from Texas named Ron Paul.)
Thus far, every contender has in some way played the name game or hit the airwaves for the advertising war. Mitt Romney attacks John McCain. Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama are constantly taking jabs at each other. John Edwards and Mike Huckabee are almost forgotten and Rudy Giuliani is vacationing in Florida. Oh, and Ron Paul is somewhere. God only knows.
But this type of strategy is to be expected. The mud-slinging mentality can be found in the lowest levels of small city politics and expands all the way to the race for the White House. This is nothing new. However, there is a new emphasis put on winning in the South, and it continues this weekend in South Carolina. (By the way, Ron Paul did beat Rudy Giuliani by almost 50 percent in the South Carolina Republican Primary).
There has been a shift in politics where the candidates have now realized that the road to the White House will eventually lead to the South and new campaign strategies provide solid proof of this.
Hillary Clinton is doing it the old-fashioned way in South Carolina by racking up on endorsements from preachers and political powerhouses. The New York senator is also able to leave the state because her high-profile hubby is barnstorming for her in what is becoming a “race of race,” and as everyone knows (according to Toni Morrison), Bill Clinton was the first black president anyway.
Barack Obama has taken a different approach by kick-starting a new political machine composed of outsiders and political first-timers in the Palmetto State. Obama is continuing his strategy of reaching out to the independents and young voters, another first in the realm of Southern politics. Sen. Obama also has help through his wife on the campaign trail in South Carolina. Michelle Obama is courting voters for her husband in the opening act for the Southern states. But she is no Bill Clinton, and as long as Bill is in South Carolina, the Clintons can continue to be in two places at once.
John Edwards is banking on his “Son of the South” strategy to put the Carolinian delegates in his column. He won the state four years ago and the slingshot effect got him on the ticket as vice president. After watching the South Carolina debate, it would seem that Edwards hasn’t changed his strategy all that much.
Personally, I don’t think he is trying to win. He has to know after his performance in Nevada that this has become a race between two runners. However, Edwards does want to appeal to whoever wins.
For example, Edwards in earlier debates tag-teamed Clinton with the help of Obama by referring to himself and the Illinois senator as “agents of change.” The Edwards mentality definitely changed in recent weeks after Clinton won New Hampshire, Michigan and Nevada. At the recent South Carolina debate, Edwards seemed to attack Obama much more harshly than his criticizing of Clinton. Is the “Son of the South” positioning himself for a run at the White House? You bet he is, just not as the president. But don’t feel bad, John. I don’t really think Ron Paul is trying to win either.