NEAL POLLACK’S ADVICE TO DEMOCRATS: “The last three Democratic Presidents came from Texas, Georgia, and Arkansas, respectively. I say this to all of you who think it’s funny and wise to say ‘fuck the South.’ If you fuck the South, you’re fucking yourselves.”

Assuming that you care about winning elections, anyway.

UPDATE: Steve Sturm responds. And a reader emails:

By keeping their disdain for red staters in the news, blue staters are hurting themselves. Don’t get me wrong. I love that we’re having an honest debate with liberals not trying to hide who they are. However, folks that voted for Bush already understand what the elites think of them. This venom spewed by the left is just a validation not a surprise. On the other hand, if you were on the fence, but voted for Kerry, I fail to understand how this vile mockery of 60,000,000 is attractive. The folks posting this stuff must fancy themselves the high school clique who gets to decide what’s cool for the rest of us. I’ve got news. After you grow up, the only place this works is in Hollywood and Manhattan.

Yeah. And the hysterical overreaction to losing the election demonstrates just how much of their self-image is tied up in that role. And on that point, it’s worth reading this Reason article from 1999 on the Matthew Shepard case and the media’s treatment of so-called “hate states.” Conclusion: “In Wyoming, there are a few bigots who don’t like gays. In the media, there are a lot more bigots who don’t like Wyoming.”

ANOTHER UPDATE: Speaking of hysterical overreaction. It just gets worse. And, as I’ve noticed before, it’s odd that the political professionals are taking it better than the academics and pundits.