At this point, the only Democratic Southern states at a state level are WV, KY, AR, and to a lesser extent NC, the latter becoming a more consistent swing/lean R state. At a local level, Democrats are still strong throughout the South, though I expect that to change at least in Alabama, Louisiana, and the like.
Did you see what happened in the 2010 elections? Democrats lost everything in Alabama outside of black majority districts. The same thing happened in Louisiana through party switches.
Ditto. I think we're going to start seeing a trend in Southern states. Republicans have performed very well there in Presidential and Senatorial races as of late, but were failing at the state and county level. Southern Indiana is, in my opinion, more connected to the South than the "Rust Belt" politically. Democrats usually do very well here on a local level. Even here, I've seen longtime Democrats surprisingly losing.
I think part of this could be at the fault of Barack Obama. He's much more liberal than any recent President, but more importantly, is the first Democratic President we've had since JFK who wasn't from the South.
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