ABC News has an article about the effects of Democratic candidates ignoring the south. As Sen. John Edwards continually points out, the party's nominee has never won the presidency without winning at least five southern states.

Former President Carter correctly points out in the article that "in the short run, it'll be a disaster [for Democrats], because they'll allow the Republican Party to run a campaign which is more elevated, which doesn't use social wedge issues as much in the South."