Word: southernism
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Dates: during 1980-1989
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...popular Governor (and now Senator) Chuck Robb. The respected current Governor, Gerald Baliles, cannot succeed himself under state law. As political scientist Larry Sabato of the University of Virginia puts it, "I think of Virginia today more as a Middle Atlantic state than a Southern state...
...There was grumbling in the Robb faction of the state party, but once again, no one wanted to risk an open schism by trying to deprive Wilder of his moment on the mountaintop. There was no chance of a racially divisive primary, since Virginia Democrats, unlike those in other Southern states, nominate by convention. In a sense, Wilder was the beneficiary of old- fashioned back-room politics, just as Irish, Italian and Jewish candidates were in the urban North decades ago. With the aid of the Robb and Baliles organization, plus his own ties to Richmond business interests, Wilder...
That line was much more than just a reminder of the era before Roe v. Wade. It also consciously harked back to segregationist, backwater Virginia, a sleepy Southern state dominated by the oligarchic Byrd machine. The implication was that not only abortion and race were at stake but even the state's economic prosperity. It is oversimplistic to attribute too much influence to a single TV ad in a media-glutted statewide campaign. But the abortion issue was framed in a way that allowed Wilder to make inroads among racially tolerant, upscale voters who might be tempted to vote Republican...
...observant of playwright Robert Harling to see that a small-town beauty parlor can function as a little lodge hall for women, a place where they can let their hair down while it is being put up. It was clever of him to stock Steel Magnolias with Southern belles, wicked of eye and tongue, though ultimately forgiving of heart. It was shrewd of him to work his successful off-Broadway drama around personal milestones (marriage, birth, death) that everyone shares. His characters may be exotics, but their situations are achingly familiar...
...This is the competition," said junior Will Rava, speaking about this weekend. "A lot of the Southern teams are not as good as Army or Dartmouth...