Interesting that I am labeled a "conservative."
I know what you mean, though, Akno. I probably will get most of the votes of the StatesRights coalition. But I'm Cosmo Kramer, not StatesRights. I have supporters of my own to add to that coalition.
Well seriously I believe their is a different left-right scale in the Southeast. This is what I believe. In the Southeast the "Liberal" to Conservative scale is more in proportion to Dixie Unionism and "Southern Pride" than any political issues, in that way it is much like Quebec were the political divisions are more along the line of Seperatist and Unionist. This Southeastern political scale runs from Seperatist on the right end to status quo on the other. Almost all Southerners are not Seperatist but slowly going towards the liberal side you first get StatesRights and his supporters who I would call Nullificationists who supported States through the whole nullification debacle and consider it a good thing. They are very fervent supporters of Southern expansion and believe that the South should have more imput in federal government as well as regional government. Next we have people like you Preston who I would call Dixie Unionists who are centre-right on this scale. You believe in an enlarged Southeast but are against nullification and the semi-dictatorial actions taken by StatesRights. You also believe in more autonomy from the central government and that D4 should remain a Southeastern District. Next we have Moderate Dixie Unionists. These people are like Sam Spade and Dubya who are for the annexation of Virginia and possibly Kentucky or Oklahoma but do not call for the larger amounts of States that Nullificationists and Dixie Unionists want. Harry might also fit into this group. They believe that the current relationship between the Federal Government and the Southeast is good and they don't really care if the Southeast has it's own district. They are centrist to centre-left on this chart. Finally you have the Federalists. The Federalists are people like Don, Ben Meyers, and Cash who either do not want to add more states to the Southeast or don't care about it. They believe that the Southeast needs to tone down its rhetoric towards the federal government and they believe that the Southeast should not have a district all to it's own. They believe that the Southeast should not be any different from any other region in Atlasia and often react against the percieved aggression of other Southern groups. Well that's how I see Southeastern politics. Rather intricate for a group of 20 people. Here is a chart of what I am trying to say:
Liberal Conservative
<---Federalist----Moderate Dixie Unionist----Dixie Unionist----Nullificationist---->
Good analysis. While I believe the South should have a pride in history (with a few notable exceptions, of course) and geography and a distinct culture, the South shouldn't get any preferential or special treatment in redistricting, especially for our unicameral legislature (do we as Atlasian citizens have representatives or do only districts have representatives?)
I believe we "federalists" look to the federal government as our main protector of liberties, that it's a role we expect the feds to take, and take seriously. Isn't the quintessential role of government to protect liberties against abuse of power, even from the state?
