Edwards gets a big endorsement
This is huge: ["D'Allesandro: Edwards is the one"].
State Sen. Lou D'Allesandro is one of New Hampshire's heavyweight pols who should bring a boatload of votes from Manchester. The rumors were that Lou would be going with Gephardt. He has held house parties for him and the two have been friends for awhile. But D'Allesandro didn't make the commitment to him and I saw Lou hanging out with Manchester Mayor Bob Baines and other old-time Dems at Edwards' barbecue during the summer: ["Edwards turns on the southern charm"] ["Political celebs"]. It should be noted that in the previous posts I called D'Allesandro a "former" state senator. According to the Monitor, he is still elected. Either way, it is a big endorsement for Edwards.

Blacks moving south
According to the U.S. Census, blacks are moving south from the Northeast and Midwest: ["Census: Blacks migrating to South in record numbers"].
I find this an extremely interesting story. The hidden part of the story is that while the Northeast tends to think it is more liberal and diverse, it is actually more intolerant, segregated and downright racist. People can look no further than the black boy from Wellesley who was put on a bus back to Mattapan - a black Boston neighborhood - because a school administrator and bus driver just assumed he was a METCO kid who lived in Boston, not Wellesley. That would never happen in Atlanta or Miami. Then, there is the two sports talk show hosts who compared a gorilla that broke out of the Franklin Park Zoo to a METCO student from Lexington. They got a slap on the wrist. Other people would be fired. Look what happened to Rush Limbaugh for making a lesser comment than Dennis and Callahan, those two buffoons. Throughout the Northeast, blacks are relegated to urban areas - often areas of wretched slums and limited economic development, whereas in the south, the races mix in poorer areas, both suburban and urban, and the economic misery is somewhat shared.
Then, there is the issue of elections. Blacks Just can't seem to manage to get elected anywhere accept their own neighborhoods. For all the talk of the importance of diversity in the suburban white neighborhoods of Massachusetts, most of these people wouldn't vote for a black candidate if it saved their lives. Do I even have to list them all?
Now granted, in some cases, minority politicians don't cater their messages to win elections outside of their base.
In the 1994 treasurer's primary race, Augie Grace kept Mike Capuano from getting enough delegates at the convention. That meant Grace faced Bill Galvin alone and Galvin clocked him. Had Grace helped Capuano get on the ballot, the Somerville mayor could have siphoned off votes from Galvin, assisting Grace in winning the primary.
In the 1998 congressional race, Charles Yancey was out of step with some of the voters and performed dismally in places like Belmont and Charlestown. Alex Rodriguez, another minority candidate, had one of the most conservative platforms in the race, including support for NAFTA and GATT, a no-no in a big union supporting area.
Felix Arroyo, the first Hispanic at-Large Boston City Councilor, is not expected to win reelection next week. But that has more to do with his lack of outreach to voter-rich areas and his insistence on talking about the war in Iraq and going on a hunger strike instead of working to address the serious issues facing the city. Arroyo is a good progressive; but in order for progressives to win, you have to act - not just talk about acting. Arroyo hasn't done that.
So why wouldn't minorities move south? What reasons do they have to stay here?

More polls
According to American Research Group, Wesley Clark has taken the lead in South Carolina with 17 percent. John Edwards drops back to 10 percent, with Joe Lieberman at 8 percent, and Dick Gephardt and Howard Dean tied at 7 percent. The Rev. Al Sharpton and Carol Moseley Braun have 5 percent.
Over in Iowa, Dean and Gephardt are tied with 26 percent. John Kerry has 15 percent and Edwards comes in with 8 percent. The poll was taken by KCCI-TV.
From Wisconsin, some interesting favorability numbers [no specifics votes]: Lieberman 31 percent, Gephardt 21 percent, Kerry 15 percent, Dean 12 percent, Braun 11 percent, Clark with 8 percent, Sharpton and Edwards at 7 percent, and Kucinich with 4 percent. The poll was sponsored by The Capital Times and the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.