Jackson Free Press

AP reports:

The "Southern strategy" in this year's presidential campaign seems to be "Don't waste too much time or money campaigning in the South" - except, of course, in Florida. President Bush has enough of a lead from Virginia to Louisiana that he's pulling ads and staff to spend those resources elsewhere, and Democrat John Kerry is likewise retreating from a region that for him has largely become a lost cause. In some Southern states, the candidates haven't been seen since spring.

"Those of us in the South are kind of the forgotten stepchildren," said University of Georgia political science professor Charles Bullock. "If you're not in Florida, you're not seeing much of this campaign except what you pick up off the national media. We're not seeing the ads. We're not seeing the candidates, nor their next of kin, nor their top advisers coming into these states."

During the Democratic primary, Vermont Gov. Howard Dean talked of courting "guys with Confederate flags on their pickup trucks," and retired Army Gen. Wesley Clark launched a 10-city, eight-state "True Grits" tour to woo the Southern voters he deemed essential to winning the presidency.

"It really all comes down to one thing," Clark said. "This election is going to be won by someone who understands Southern values."

But talk of a true "Southern strategy" as existed in past campaigns appears all but anachronistic.