President Obama Finished More Strongly in Deep South Than Any Other Democratic Presidential Candidate. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Judging from President Obama polling well in some red states like South Carolina, Georgia and narrowly losing North Carolina in the presidential election, some parts of the Deep South aren’t as Red as you think. President Obama finished more strongly in the South than any other Democratic presidential candidate in three decades. The Washington Post said that underscores “a fresh challenge for Republicans who rely on Southern whites as their base of national support.”

Washington Post:  ”Obama won Virginia and Florida and narrowly missed victory in North Carolina. But he also polled as well in Georgia as any Democrat since Jimmy Carter, grabbed 44 percent of the vote in deep-red South Carolina and just under that in Mississippi — despite doing no substantive campaigning in any of those states.”

“Much of the post-election analysis has focused on the demographic crisis facing Republicans among Hispanic voters, particularly in Texas. But the results across other parts of the South, where Latinos remain a single-digit minority, point to separate trends among blacks and whites that may also have big implications for the GOP’s future.”

I would also add that the Republican Party also has another problem — moderates have been squeezed out. It is also quite clear that they won’t get 25 percent of the black vote, but as Henry Barbour (nephew of former Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour) said, the party has to figure out how to appeal to those black voters who share their core beliefs. At the same time, the race-baiting from the GOP has to stop if they want to appeal to black and Hispanic voters.