Winning the southern heart

Debra McCorkle, a southern liberal, offers some helpful advise to Howard Dean on how to win the hearts of southerners. She understands what Dean is trying to do but thinks he is demonstrating a typical northern ham-handed manner in doing it.

I refuse to believe that the South really belongs to the Republicans. I just tend to think that the conservatives mix the stuff that concerns the citizenry with a heaping spoonful of Dixie Crystal sugar. They sweeten that iced tea while a candidate from Vermont sticks a glass of Lipton Instant in our faces with two cubes of ice and a packet of Sweet and Low and tells us to drink it. It's just not the same, Howard.

Now this is the kind of criticism I, a Dean supporter, can appreciate. It doesn't drop to John Edwards level of mocking disdain at Dean's attempts to open a dialog. She actually seems charmed by Dean's desire even if she is unimpressed with his delivery.