Officials in Mr. Obama's campaign say they are bullish on the South, and they have signaled their aggressiveness with early campaign appearances in North Carolina and Virginia, major voter registration drives in the region, and television advertising in Florida, Georgia, North Carolina and Virginia.

"If you go in and look at the number of unregistered voters in demographic groups that are important to Barack's candidacy -- younger voters, African-American voters -- the potential is just incredible," Mr. Hildebrand said.

More from the New York Times...


Then again, there is a differing opinion...

The South Will Fall Again
Keep in mind that this analysis (and the speculation that Mr. Obama will generate unprecedented black turnout in the South) does not consider the possibility that white voter turnout will rise, too. Passage of the 1965 Voting Rights Act led to an upsurge in black voting in the South, but it also caused many white Southerners to register and vote as well -- for the Republicans... Virginia, however, is the one Southern state that Mr. Obama has a reasonable chance of winning. And it's precisely because the home of Robert E. Lee...is seceding from the Confederacy. The demographic makeup of the electorate in Virginia is unlike that of any other state in the South. The black population in Virginia is, as a percentage, among the lowest in the region. And during the last two decades, the state has also experienced a huge influx of upscale non-Southerners, who have taken over the Washington suburbs of northern Virginia... In the rest of the South, Mr. Obama cannot overcome reality. Even if unprecedented numbers of black voters turn out to vote for him, the white vote will serve as a formidable counterbalance. Mr. Obama should not hope to capture states in the country's most racially polarized region.

For the complete New York Times article, click here.

From Market Watch

25 reasons to vote in 2008...

1. U.S. dollar meltdown
Clues: Foreign currencies replacing dollar as reserve currency. Buffett's hedging too.
 
2. Housing-credit meltdown
Clues: Subprimes triggered $400 billion in write-offs; global estimate is $1.3 trillion.

3. Energy and oil bubble
Clues: Gas $5 a gallon. Crude up, up, up. Ethanol and OPEC idiocy. Automakers failing.

4. Foreign trade deficits
Clues: Monthly deficits top $70 billion. Selling equities, foreigners own $15 trillion.

5. Federal budget deficits
Clues: Federal debt now $9 trillion; add another $400 billion federal deficit this year.

6. Social Security deficit
Clues: $60 trillion to $75 trillion. Cut benefits or raise taxes. Inertia if gutless politicians.

7. Health-care crisis
Clues: Medicare losses. 47 million uninsured. Big Pharma pockets big bucks.

8. Corporate pensions underfunded
Clues: Airlines, auto, other blue chips in hock deep, defaulting to taxpayers.

9. Local government pensions deficits
Clues: $500 billion mess draining local taxpayers, deepening recession woes.

10. Personal savings meltdown
Clues: Consumption addicts. Zero savings rate. Too little for retirement.

The complete article and the remaining 15 reasons can be viewed on the Market Watch website here.

In the Latest McCain Speech
"Because of earmarks, "millions of dollars are wasted every year...
...Because of earmarks, "millions of dollars are wasted every year...
...to protect the country's borders..."
More...


As Gas Prices Increase so do Virginia Railway Express Fares
"I think that is a reasonable rate given the additional costs that we have had to incur," says Mark Roeber, spokesperson for VRE. "Higher fuel prices really have ramped up the operating costs more than almost any other factor." The rate increase comes at a time when ridership on VRE is swelling.
More...


The Housing Market Downturn
A recent report said the problem is growing more rapidly in the Washington region than in most other metropolitan areas. According to the report, commissioned by the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments and mortgage giant Freddie Mac, 15,613 homes went into foreclosure in the Washington region during the year ending in February -- a sixfold increase in the foreclosure rate over the previous year. Fairfax, with 1,700 foreclosures in the past year, is behind Prince William and Prince George's counties, which lead Virginia and Maryland in the rate of foreclosures. But several of Fairfax's neighborhoods, including Herndon, Centreville, Vienna and Falls Church, are already identified as or at risk of becoming foreclosure clusters, the report said.
More...

Mike Reynold has taken a five-month leave of absence from Attorney General Bob McDonnell's campaign for governor to direct Sen. John McCain's presidential campaign in Virginia. More...

As the Red County network of political blogs continues to expand, we enthusiastically announce the launch of Red County Virginia.

Red County also welcomes our new editor, Eben Trevino. Rev. Eben Trevino is an Eastern Orthodox priest, a retired Air Force lieutenant colonel, a partner in Longbow LLC - a strategic communications firms, a doctoral candidate in Leadership, and a sometime writer. His parish is in Manassas, Virginia. He lives on a historic mountain in Northern Virginia with his wife - Diane, his mother - Nora, and two cats - Winston Churchill and Annie Oakley. They all reside on the mountain sharing life with the deer, foxes, and black bears. He has two sons - Joshua, one of the conservative world's great writers and Ethan, a doctoral candidate at the University of Manchester.

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