Dixie Democrats consider Dean ‘too liberal’ to win

Some Southern Democratic leaders believe presidential candidate Howard Dean is “too liberal” to win the region if he is the party’s nominee in a contest against President Bush.

Interviews with Democratic chairmen throughout the Southern and border states elicit a range of surprisingly frank emotions about the party’s feisty, Northeastern front-runner — from impressive to wait-and-see discomfort to fear that his liberal views on Iraq, tax cuts and social issues once again would allow Mr. Bush to sweep the region, as he did in 2000 against Al Gore.

Most acknowledge the growing conservatism that dominates their region, and some concede it will be difficult, if not impossible, to carry many Southern states if the nominee is out of step with mainstream Southern values.

“I think Dean is perceived as quite liberal. Unless his perception can go beyond the governor of Vermont who signed legislation supporting gay ‘marriages,’ that is a death knell here in Kentucky,” said state Rep. Susan Westrom, state Democratic chairman.

“The rural South is not progressive, as far as social issues. They are deeply faith-based on moral issues. They look critically at anything that can undermine the social fabric of their community,” Mrs. Westrom said.

Moretta Bosley, the state’s former Democratic chairwoman, underscores that view about the former Vermont governor.

“He would have a hard time carrying Kentucky. He’s a little too liberal for most Kentuckians, who are a little more conservative than the rest of the Democratic Party,” she said.

The South is a deeply patriotic region of the country, where Mr. Bush has substantial support for his policies in Iraq, many Democrats said.

“If I went out and talked to 50 people on the street, 49 would support the president on Iraq,” Mrs. Bosley said.

North Carolina Democratic Chairwoman Barbara Allen also thinks Mr. Dean would spell trouble for her party if he is the nominee.

“I don’t think he plays that well in North Carolina. I don’t think he will play well in the South, period,” she said in an interview. “I’m speaking personally, but I don’t think he knows a lot about the South. His remark about going after voters in pickups with Confederate flags rubbed people the wrong way here.”

Mrs. Allen, who is supporting North Carolina Sen. John Edwards, says she thinks the party needs to pick a “more centrist” candidate for its nominee.

Tennessee state Democratic Chairman Randy Button has similar concerns about who his party will pick next year and points out that the only times Democrats have been competitive recently in the South is when a Southerner was on the ticket.

“We have to have a Southerner on the ticket to be viable in the South,” he said.

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