THE SOUTH HAS ALREADY ARISEN AGAIN

Bob Moser in The Nation has written a long overdue rebuke to those Washington-type Democrats (you know who you are, Rahm Emanuel) who want to write off the red states generally, and the South more specifically, and those who have wandered away from Democratic principles, whoring after "Republican-lite" votes in congressional races.

We especially like Moser's remarks because...

a. He has North Carolina roots and understands at least some of what's gone on here in the last few years.

b. He appreciates that the hero of 2006 is Howard Dean.

He understands some but not all of the current Democratic resurgence on the ground in North Carolina. His compare and contrast discussion of Larry Kissell in the NC-8 and Heath Shuler in the NC-11 is insightful, but he seems ignorant of any of the stirrings of Democratic Party strength below the congressional level, and that's where the real story is.

We certainly applaud Moser's diagnosis that it will take a new economic populism (you know who YOU are, John Edwards) to bring the Democrats back fully in the South against the power of Republican wedges (strong prejudices against immigrant color, against "sin," against uppity women).

The future IS Larry Kissell and not Heath Shuler, and in fact, the future is already here.