The Monitor: Maybe a Democrat can win in the South

Unsurprisingly, the Christian Science Monitor has been running post-election coverage that is thoughtful, forward-thinking and generally just head-and-shoulders above 95% of the other national print media. I have bookmarked their Domestic Politics page and I urge you to take a look at it.

In this story (Maybe a Democrat can win in the South) the Monitor's reporter finds himself in Lizard Lick, North Carolina, a wide spot in the road a little bit east of Raleigh:

After President Bush's sweep of the South, some commentators have wondered aloud about this "uneducated" region and its propensity to vote against its own interests: After all, it sends the most soldiers to die in battle, yet exhibits the most gung-ho patriotism; it's the poorest pocket of the country, yet it voted against a candidate promising a big expansion of government health insurance.

But if intelligence is measured by capability for abstract thought and grasp of paradox, Mark Pierce, a Lizard Lick contractor, is a Rhodes scholar...

Enjoy.