So that is a rather smallish sample to pull out neoconfederate fears. Also in the last elections three former CSA states (Virginia, North Carolina, Florida) voted for Obama.

The margins were also significant but not absolute, in Texas roughly 3.5 mil voted for Obama but 4.4 mil put the stare into McCain's column. Obama won Illinois where 3.5 mil voted for him making the number of Texans voting for Obama higher overall. Illinois is naturally smaller but that was more than impressive showing for a "black" candidate and a Democrat in traditional Republican stronghold that was considered G.W. Bush's home turf.

To add to that I don't particularly like the idea that any southerner (or anyone else for that matter) who didn't vote for Obama did so under the influence of residual racism.

That is not to say that residual racism doesn't exist, it plays a part even in the North however I don't think it is a crucial element in disliking / opposing Obama.

In short you don't have to be a white Southerner to dislike Obama and his policies.

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That would be some Americans. The rest of the world loves the guy as do most of us. There is however, far too much attention given to the 'losers'. Other countries don't do that as blatantly as we do. They have their parties and those who object but they don't have center stage the way they do here. There are too many days when the President gets less news coverage than Beck, Palin, Rush and the other nut jobs. The news is not fair and balanced, it's designed to keep the noisy brats happy. ANNA

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That other white (Pelosi)and male (Harry Reid) Democrats posted similarly poor numbers in the South. So if the problem really is racism, then the South must have decided that by association with Obama, the entire Democratic Party is black.

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They aren't nearly as crazy about other Democrats or the overall direction of the country, after all.

Why such strong love for Obama? White guilt?

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Even in Northeastern States there at least 20% die hard RepublicansConservatives ...

In all the other Polls I've seen Obama is no where near these numbers.

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Considering that states with the highest per capita concentrations of African Americans are in the South, the charge of racism rings false.

But hey, pinning racism on Southerners is an awful lot of fun and it's a nice distraction from the racism that exists in every town and every city in every state in America.

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I'm a multi racial man who America designated as Black just as they have President Obama. As a man I like President Obama a great deal, and as a politician I think he is truly outstanding, but as a formulator of policy for working men and women and the country as a whole I think he is terrible. If I were to rate his performance in office to date, I would give him poor marks in deed. I guess that would make me a Black man who hates a Black President, or maybe anyone who is opposes President Obama's policies can only do so for racist reasons.

Joshua, if you want to make a comparison to the Civil War, maybe you should analyze how closely the President's and the Democratic Party's cheap labor policies resemble those of President Jefferson Davis, CSA, and those of the Democratic Party of the mid 1800s. Joshua, calling people despicable names is not a substitute for rational thought, and the name calling has been used so often and so inappropriately as to become trite; you know of little import.

I'm a Black man and a life-long liberal Democrat, but I'm not a fool. I will not support policies that are against my own or my family's interests just because they are proposed by a Black President, my party, or because someone calls me a racist.

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for about 25 years. Until you are around these folks a lot, it is difficult to understand how terribly conservative and racist they are. These are the folks who love Rush Limpballs.

A lot of them are indeed itching for civil war. They never quite accepted that the last one ended.

It is not just racism, but extreme conservatism mostly based on fundamentalist Christianity. They'd be hating Hilary too if she had won. They hate government in general. They hate a lot of stuff, including that "elite intellectualism." Obama and Michele are just uppity niggers to them. Liberal intellectual niggers at that!

Unlike many of the comments above, I can believe those poll results. A lot of folks in the South have a view of the world you have to experience to believe. Like I said, they consider Rush Limpballs a smart guy and everything he says is totally true.

Luv,
Granny

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What condescending CRAP! I’m sure that one won’t find pockets of residual racism in the highly “enlightened” North. Everyone gets along so wonderfully, right? Only in the South does racism still exist and virtually 100% of all Southerners are illiterate ignoramuses who enjoy donning their white sheets and hoods, every Saturday night, and attending a good, old-fashioned cross-burning!

Every time I read Holland’s drivel, I am amazed that this character holds the position of “editor” and “senior writer”.

Then again, I suppose I shouldn’t be. After all, this IS ‘AlterNUT’!!!

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small number polled the truth of the backward society holding its own in the South is evident. Everything from segregation, through politics to justice is in dire straits south of the Mason Dixon. Why any self respecting individual would want to live there under those conditions is beyond me. I guess it's simply inertia.

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most of my life in Virginia, Texas, and Florida, I still can't figure these people out. At least in South Florida with all the people who have moved here from northern states, the goofy Southern mindset is muted somewhat, but even the majority of people in my area are oppressively conservative. Texas is like a whole other country. It resembles some banana republic (or the old South Africa) more than anything else. Even a cosmopolitan city like Houston is loaded with wingnuts. When we lived there, we associated with the international community most of the time. The ordinary white Texans were just too bizarre to handle.

The worst part of these Southern states isn't necessarily the racists, but the overwhelming influence of the Religious Right in controlling almost everything. I am so sick of having fundamentalist Christians ramming their viewpoints down my throat that I have become a complete atheist. Simply won't tolerate ANY religious discussion in my presence. It is bullshit!

Virginia is okay if you stay near DC. Otherwise, it's just like Tennessee or Texas. These people act so brainwashed to me that I can't understand it. They just go along with what their crooked polls and preachers tell them on everything. They're like zombies, and believe me, no one will ever change this.

We truly should have let the old CSA go a long time ago. At least we could have avoided the Bush clan and maybe Raygun. The rest of the country is being run into the ground by this crowd of noisy dissenters and obstinate troglydites.

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Obama emphasized he was running to represents all citizens.

While it was historic and had the positive effect of blacks seeing themselves as players in this Republic, Obama is the President, not the "black" President.

Why This continual examination of race instead of policy?

The very thing the election was supposed to have transcended is continually brought back into the mix as an issue, and usually by so called non-racist progressive.

This is the author that hacks out that people opposed to amnesty are racist.

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As a southerner I'm not a bit surprised. The first time I'd even heard of Obama was when someone at work, who I never would have expected this from, asked me "Can you believe some Nigger named Osama wants to be President ? He must be crazy"
Sad but true. If it wasn't for the weather and the fishing, I'd just as soon burn the South down.
It's funny, because most people are very nice to your face but when they are alone or in groups of like minded idiots the stupid flows out of them ,like lava from a volcano.

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