Over at the Washington Post, Chris Cillizza writes that, “None of the top three Republican presidential contenders are ‘of’ the South in any meaningful way.” (As he notes, Newt Gingrich, who represented Georgia in the House, was an “army brat” who grew up in Pennsylvania and only settled in Georgia after high school).
This is telling, especially when put in context. Fifteen, or so, years ago, southerners dominated American politics. We had President Bill Clinton (Arkansas), Vice President Al Gore (Tennessee) Majority Leader Trent Lott (Mississippi) and Speaker Gingrich — and don’t forget other prominent pols like Tom DeLay (Texas), Bob Barr (Georgia), Bill Frist (Tennessee), and Dick Armey (who represented Texas, but was from North Dakota), et al.
President Obama, of course, represented Illinois in the U.S. Senate, and Vice President Joe Biden represented Delaware (though he was sometimes thought of as the third senator from Pennsylvania.) Speaker John Boehner hails from Ohio, and Sen. Mitch McConnell represents Kentucky (which some consider to be “southern“.)
As previously mentioned, none of the remaining contenders for the Republican nomination are truly “of” the south. What is more, the front-runner for the nomination, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, might just win the nomination, despite having lost most of the south.
This means that, in the foreseeable future, the south will likely continue to be under-represented, at least, in terms of national political leaders.
This is probably not an accident. Texans tend to think of themselves as more western than southern, but still, there is little doubt in my mind that the George W. Bush years left us with a bad taste in our mouths for — and an aversion to — southern politicians. This backlash probably (at least partially) contributed to the failed presidential campaigns of southerners like Haley Barbour and Rick Perry.