Kerry Does Need South

The often-made assertion that the 2004 Democratic nominee for president can't win without pulling some Southern states is not a slam at Northern candidates such as putative Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass. It's a reflection of the American political reality since the South started turning Republican in the 1970s.

So we mean Kerry no disrespect in asserting that Sen. John Edwards' victory in the S.C. Democratic primary Tuesday illustrates the importance of the South in presidential elections. That victory, plus Kerry's third-place finish in the Oklahoma primary Tuesday, reveals a potential weakness in Kerry's candidacy, one he'll have to address if he, as the presumptive nominee, is to defeat President Bush on Nov. 2.

Bush will be strong in some of the states where Kerry won primaries and caucuses Tuesday - Arizona, for instance, and maybe Missouri. If Kerry is to become our next president (and we're not saying, mind you, that he should), he'd better devise his own Southern Strategy now.