Second Verse, Same as the First: The 2012 Presidential Election in the South

Contents

Contents List of Illustrations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . vii Foreword. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ix Preface. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xiii Introduction: Southern Politics and the 2012 Presi­ den­ tial Election. . . . xv Branwell DuBose Kapeluck and Scott E. Buchanan Part I The Setting and the Nominating Process 1. Demographic and Issue Cleavages in the Southern Electorate. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 Patrick R. Miller 2. The 2012 Presi­ den­ tial Nomination Process. . . . . . . . . . . 21 John A. Clark Part II Elections in the Deep South 3. Alabama: Republican Dominance and Democrats Fighting to Survive. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37 Shannon L. Bridgmon 4. Georgia: Even Redder. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51 Charles S. Bullock III 5. Louisiana: For Republicans and Obama, Second Verse, Same as the First . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69 Robert E. Hogan and Joshua D. Hostetter 6. Mississippi: Democrats Struggle in an Increasingly Dominant Republican State . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83 Stephen D. Shaffer and David A. Breaux vi H Contents 7. South Carolina: “It’s Déjà Vu All Over Again” . . . . . . 101 Cole Blease Graham and Scott E. Buchanan Part III Elections in the Rim South 8. Arkansas: Another Anti-­ Obama Aftershock. . . . . . . . . 123 Janine A. Parry and Jay Barth 9. Florida: Sí, Se Puede!. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 143 Jonathan Knuckey and Tyler Branz 10. North Carolina: No Longer Federal Red and State Blue?. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 171 Charles Prysby 11. Tennessee: Republican Ascendency Affirmed. . . . . . . . 185 J. David Woodard 12. Texas: Big Red in the 2012 Elections . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 199 Brian Arbour 13. Virginia: Obama’s Unexpected Firewall. . . . . . . . . . . . 213 John J. McGlennon Conclusion: Toward Two-­ Party Competition in the South?. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 233 H. Gibbs Knotts Notes. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 245 Contributors. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 277 Index. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 281 ...