Democratic Candidates Showing Strength In Southern States

The Republican fortress in the South, which started with the Goldwater campaign in 1964, has been an impregnable voting block of conservatives for 40 years. Now, the Democratic Party is running its most competitive campaign across the South in 40 years, fielding potential winners along a rib of states stretching from Louisiana to Virginia. As recently as July 2006, the year Democrats took control of Congress, a Wall Street Journal-NBC News poll showed Southern voters bucking national sentiment, saying they preferred Republicans over Democrats by 47% to 40%. In early 2007, both parties expected only 35 to 40 House seats out of 435 to be truly competitive. However, in the latest Wall Street Journal-NBC News poll, conducted last month, Southern voters said they prefer a Democratic-controlled Congress over a Republican one by a 44% to 40% margin, a reversal of the long-term historical patterns.

Presidential Election Results Collin County Year GOP DEM 2004 71.2% 174,435 28.1% 68,935 2000 73.1% 128,179 24.4% 42,884 1996 63.0% 83,750 28.5% 37,854 1992 47.0% 60,514 19.0% 24,508 1988 74.3% 67,776 25.1% 22,934 1984 81.6% 61,095 18.2% 13,604 1980 67.9% 36,559 28.2% 15,187 1976 60.0% 21,608 39.0% 14,039 1972 78.0% 17,667 21.1% 4,783 1968 39.9% 6,494 36.4% 5,918 1964 29.8% 3,341 70.0% 7,833 1960 42.2% 3,865 57.1% 5,229

In the spring of 2008, Democratic candidates won special elections for U.S. House seats in heavily Republican parts of Mississippi and Louisiana.

• MS Democrat Travis Childers beat Republican Greg Davis 54% to 46% in a U.S. House special election in a red Republican district.
• LA's 6th district Democrat Cazayoux Woody Jenkins, won a special election 49% to 46%, for a seat held by a Republican for two decades.

Plus, last year, while not a southern race, it is significant that Democrat Bill Foster won the suburban Chicago House seat held for 21 years by Republican Dennis Hastert, the former House Speaker.

Democratic voter turnout consistently outpaced Republicans across the South in this year's presidential primaries, often by wide margins, even in Texas. In the 20 largest counties in Texas, 19 had more Democrats turnout than Republicans. Democrats outvoted Republicans in Republican strongholds like Collin County and Williamson County by at least 20,000 votes.

During the 2008 Democratic Primary more people voted on the Democratic Primary Ballot in Collin Co. than voted for John Kerry (68,935 votes for Kerry in Collin Co.) in the 2004 Presidential general election. More than 20,000 people attended the Democratic Party's 2008 Precinct Conventions on March 4th all across Collin County and approximately 4,000 people attended the Democratic Party's 2008 County Convention in Collin County. These are all historic record turnouts for the Democratic Party in Collin County.

In the 2008 election cycle several Republican-held House seats across the South, including rural districts in Virginia, North Carolina, Louisiana and South Carolina, that were once considered "safe" are looking more competitive as election day approaches. That could increase Democratic advantage of 19 House seats in the current Congress to an advantage of possibly up to 75 House seats over Republicans in the next Congress.

That edge could grow even larger if Collin County Democrats can turn out in large enough numbers to help Tom Daley, age 44, Democratic Candidate for the U.S. 3rd Texas Congressional District win against Republican incumbent Sam Johnson, age 78, and Glenn Melançon, age 42, Democratic Candidate for the U.S. 4th Texas Congressional District win against Republican incumbent Ralph Hall, age 85.

Read more about "The New Southern Strategy" in The Wall Street Journal.

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Bush Admin Seeks to Redefine Birth Control Pill as Abortion

As reported in the Wall Street Journal OnLine, "The Bush Administration's Department of Health and Human Services writes a draft regulation that defines most birth-control pills and intrauterine devices as abortion because they work by preventing fertilized eggs from implanting in the uterus."

The regulation considers that such contraception approaches - destroys the life of a human being. By its expansive definitions, the draft furthers a key goal of the religious right - to define single-cell fertilized eggs as legal people with full legal rights. If the regulation is enacted, insurers, hospitals, HMOs and other institutions could decline to provide or cover contraception pills and IUD devices.

If Roe v. Wade were to be overturned, it is conceivable that even the common birth control pill and IUD device could eventually be ruled to be a type of abortion by a very right leaning Supreme Court of the United States. The next President will likely appoint as many as three new Supreme Court Justices to the bench. Long after the next president is gone, his appointments will be sitting on the bench, making decisions that impact our rights and liberties.

McCain has repeatedly stated that he opposes abortion and has said that he would appoint Supreme Court Justices who would overturn Roe v. Wade, the landmark court decision from the 1970s that legalized abortion, whereas, Obama supports the current Roe v. Wade position.

Which Presidential candidate do you want to appoint the next three Supreme Court Justices? John McCain or Barack Obama?? The choice is up to you - the voter!

A message from Cecile Richards, President of the Planned Parenthood Federation of America. It seems like the [other] person who doesn't want to discuss this issue is Secretary of Health and Human Services Mike Leavitt. A few days ago, health care blogger Scott Swenson asked Secretary Leavitt whether it will be "HHS policy that the 98 percent of Americans who use contraception at some point in their lives are terminating rather than preventing pregnancy." Leavitt's reply: no comment. We deserve answers from Secretary Leavitt on this secret plan to radically change family planning funding rules, and we need you to help us get those answers. Here's what you can do: First, leave a comment on Secretary Leavitt's blog urging him to respond to Swenson's question and growing concerns that the Bush administration's proposed rule would severely threaten women's health care. Just leave a comment on his most recent blog post. Leavitt uses his official blog to communicate about government policy — it's time he came clean on this issue. Second, let us know you left a comment. Because the blog comments are moderated, some may be blocked from visitors to the site. We need a way to keep track of the growing outcry about the Bush administration's proposed attack on women's health care — we can't let them keep this quiet. Please, help us stop this proposed rule change before it can harm the people who most desperately need access to quality, comprehensive health care. The first step is to get straight answers from Secretary Leavitt. And don't forget to tell us what you said to Secretary Leavitt. Thank you for standing with us, and please keep an eye out for future updates on this vital issue. P.S. Our best chance of stopping this assault on the fundamental health care rights of women is to raise a massive public outcry. Help us get a head start by urging your friends to contact President Bush. Click here.

ExxonMcCain'08

The Politico.com reports that the Democratic National Committee on Wednesday will launch an “Exxon-McCain ’08” campaign website where ExxonMcCain'08 lapel buttons, bumper stickers and yard signs, complete with gas-pump logo, will be available. Click on the bumper sticker below.


Donations to McCain's campaign from the oil industry

Obama Leads McCain In New AP-Ipsos Poll

AP-Ipsos Poll - A new AP-Ipsos poll just released shows Barack Obama leading John McCain nationally by 6 percentage points. The Associated Press-Ipsos poll shows that Obama is leading his Republican rival 47 percent to 41 percent. McCain has a 10-point lead among whites and is tied with Obama among men. Obama leads by 13 points among women and has huge leads with minorities and the young. Poll Press Release PDF