My in-laws are yellow dog Democrats from the Deep South. If you are not familiar with the phrase, it means they would vote for a yellow dog if it was on the ballot as a Democrat instead of voting for a Republican. My in-laws are kind generous people who are relatively well-informed compared to the average American. Unfortunately, they only get their news from old (liberal) media and they believe every word must be true or it would not be on TV (or in the paper, or in Time, etc). Thus, they believe most Republicans are evil people who want to oppress the poor to favor the rich. When the Democrats do something awful, they shake their heads and say both parties are evil, but at least the Democrats are the lessor of two evils.

This Christmas vacation, we spent a few days at their Tennessee farm. As expected, I heard a few anti-Bush remarks and how they were looking forward to voting against him in 2004. I saw no point in commenting on this, but Lady Quixote (who unlike my Independent self, is a strong Republican) jumped into the fray. She asked who they would vote for if Howard Dean was running against President Bush. I was shocked to hear my father-in-law say he would not vote for Dean. Assuming Dean wins the Democratic primary, this does bode well for the Democrats in the South. It may be moot since the South seems to be more Republican every year, but when a yellow-dog Democrat won't vote for his party, you know the Democrats have lost touch with the heartland.

Dean's almost magical ability to raise scorn in the South makes the Democratic primary more interesting. It may not make much difference in the national election (the South would probably vote to reelect President Bush even if Dean was respected in these States), but it may greatly influence the Democratic party. What happens if Al Sharpton wins a few Southern primaries? His delegates at the Democratic primary may make things interesting at the Democratic convention (or, more realistically, in the hidden negotiations before the convention). It should be an interesting year for watching politics.