Much of the conservativeness of the American ‘South’ stems from the ‘Deep South’ of states such as Alabama and Mississippi

Is the South still different? In 2008 and 2012 Barack Obama succeeded where John Kerry and Al Gore had failed by winning in Virginia and Florida, indicating for many that the peripheral states of the South are now up for grabs. Steven White takes a close look at why and how conservatism differs across the South, and finds that while southern white distinctiveness persists in the aggregate, this is driven by attitudes in the Deep South states. He argues that the concentration of white born again Christians is a major factor in the region’s social conservatism.