| Zelling Out |
3 November 2003
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Democratic Senator Zell Miller Will Back Bush in 2004
Senator Zell Miller (D-GA) announced last week that he will support President Bush in the 2004 general election. This is not a surprise, as Senator Miller has quite conservative credentials. He says he will not become a Republican, but as he has titled his forthcoming book, A National Party No More: The Conscience of a Conservative Democrat, one wonders why not.
Southern Democrats have historically been a different breed from, say, their New England counterparts. After, George Wallace stood in the school house door to keep out black children as a Southern Democrat. Part of the reason is the Abe Lincoln was a Republican, and part of the reason is that the South has, simply, a more conservative political culture. To get elected in the South, one must be more conservative.
Yet in the years since Richard Nixon unfurled his Southern Strategy and trounced George McGovern, there has been a steady stream of conversions from the Democrats to the Republicans. This realignment ought to be welcome, but people like Senator Miller resist it, most likely for emotional and local reasons. He should switch sides formally, since he has already decided he can't support any of the Democrats running for the White House.
As a member of the Senate, he could serve at the 2004 Democratic convention as a super-delegate, a man who has already pledged himself to Mr. Bush. The mere possibility illustrates his need to cross the aisle. While the less charitable could call him many things, "unprincipled" does not fit him. Senator Miller needs to changes parties.
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