Via the Blug Dog Blog, CarolinaDem has some thoughts on a forthcoming book by Thomas F. Schaler called "Whistling Past Dixie, How Democrats Can Win Without the South."

Schaller believes the Democrats should abandon strategies that attempt to win southern states and replace them with a greater focused effort on winning throughout the Midwest and Southwest. He further argues, that after winning in the Midwest and Southwest, Democrats will develop a record of governing accomplishments that can be taken to other areas of the country in an attempt to sway voters to the party fold.

I've preordered the book and I hope to have a review once it's out. CarolinaDem disagrees with Schaler's prescription by noting that parties must have broad national appeal in order to win and that the demographics are against Schaller. I disagree with CarolinaDem, and I suppose agree with Schaler, on both counts.

First, it's wrong to claim that parties must have broad national appeal. The Republicans did very well from the Civil War onward by ignoring the South, for example. Political parties need sufficient appeal to a majority of the elecoralate, but that doesn't translate into all regions of the country. Schaller is spot on in his prescription for Democrats to win in the Midwest and Southwest first, and use the record of accomplishments there to work to appeal to the rest of the country. If Democrats were to take back Congress and the White House by winning the Midwest and Southwest, perhaps our record would boost the party's chances in the South.

Second, the Sunbelt is growing, but the Sunbelt is a mixture of the South and the Southwest. Some portions of the South, like Mississippi, Alabama, and Louisiana, are on the decline. Schaller is telling Democrats to focus on winning the portion of the Sunbelt that is closest to the Democratic Party. It's good advice, but I'll have to read the book to find out more.