Alabama 4 McCain = race

We talked about it in the FTR before the election, and in the FTR after the election. In both, the panelists more likely than not downplayed the role of race in McCain's Alabama win. Now the NY Times Adam Nossiter has a story on the same topic. He writes: "Here in Alabama, where Mr. McCain won 60.4 percent of the vote in his best Southern showing, he had the support of nearly 9 in 10 whites, according to exit polls, a figure comparable to other Southern states. Alabama analysts pointed to the persistence of traditional white Southern attitudes on race as the deciding factor in Mr. McCain’s strong margin. Mr. Obama won in Jefferson County, which includes the city of Birmingham, and in the Black Belt, but he made few inroads elsewhere." Eight of the eleven original Confederate states went for McCain, and the article argues that the Republican Party has now become a regional political power. And those of us here in Alabama are in the center of it. Whether you supported Obama or McCain, the power shift following the election will likely have a lasting impact on Alabamians.