A New Southern Strategy?

Rather remarkable: John Kerry's Forget-the-South Strategy?

Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., is discounting notions that any Democratic candidate would have to appeal to Southern voters in order to win the presidency, calling such thinking a "mistake" during a speech at Dartmouth College.

Kerry's remarks Saturday were so starkly antithetical to how many southern Democrats feel their party should campaign for the presidency, that a former South Carolina state Democratic chairman told ABCNEWS that Sen. Ernest "Fritz" Hollings, D-S.C., who endorsed Kerry last week, perhaps "ought to reconsider his endorsement."

And, hmm:

"Everybody always makes the mistake of looking South," Kerry said, in response to a question about winning the region. "Al Gore proved he could have been president of the United States without winning one Southern state, including his own."

It is certainly mathematically true that a candidate can win sans any of the southern states, but it is a rather odd strategy to write off that many electoral votes this early in the process.

And given that the main focus of many Democrats appears to be the ever-elusive "electability" one wonders if such pronouncements will end up harming him in NH and during the Feb. 3rd primaries. It certainly can't be of much help in SC, given that he is essentially telling the state: "I don't need you, and indeed, that the Democratic Party doesn't need you."

The article goes to quote Kerry's spokesman, David Wade, who tries to tell us what Kerry really meant, which that is that yes! the South is important!

Whenever spokespersons have to come out and explain what their candidate really meant, it is confirmation that, yes, the candidate did put his foot in his mouth.