It's one thing for the South to be conservative socially in the Bible belt, but quite another to be economically conservative. But Republicans deliberately blur the distinction between social and economic conservatism.

Economically, when compared to other U.S. regions, the South has disproportionately high unemployment, unfair taxes, poverty, illiteracy, poor schools, and inadequate health care and housing - for both white and black. Why would anyone want to conserve such economic misery?

[...] Rather than repeating this stereotypical and condescending approach of appealing to whites in the South with a "balanced ticket" and "social conservatism," Howard Dean dares a new approach - to join whites and blacks around a common economic agenda of good schools and health care.