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The question the author brings up about "solidarity across race lines" has always been in the back of my mind during elections like this, when poor or working class whites side with fiscal policies that simply aren't designed to benefit them. I'm pretty much on the same page as you, Eli, in that the extremely deep-running religious and class lines that the author uses to characterize Southern voters in general is pretty foreign to me. The idea that the author puts forth in the last paragraph, the bargain of working class Southern voters to remain "'real' whites" in exchange for losing economic clout, is a pretty compelling part of party politics that I wish the author elaborated on a little more. I'm also curious why, based on the religiousness that the author points to as such a large factor, these working class voters don't simply participate as fiscal liberals and social conservatives?

I really liked this article, both because of the discussion of Southern demographics, like Eli, I wish I knew more about the political situation in the South, and the introduction to remaining racial lines (I also wish this piece had gone on longer) that go beyond open prejudice or discrimination but can be observed in voting patterns and political allegiances. I think the power of tradition here is fascinating and I'd be interested to understand specifically what is sacrificed to remain within this balance of "morality, class and race" or how they play out beyond the South somewhere like San Francisco.

I think this article brings up important ideas. I'd like to know more about how affluent whites used whiteness in the 1940s to align lower class and middle class whites with their political views. I do know that cities like Atlanta have had famous black mayors who shared religious beliefs and economic goals with both black and white voters. It is definitely something I would like to know more about.