<p>Two generations ago Kevin Phillips challenged Republicans to envision a southern-based national majority. In <em>Whistling Past Dixie</em>, Tom Schaller issues an equally transformative challenge to Democrats: Build a winning coalition <em>outside</em> the South.</p>
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<p>The South is no longer the "swing" region in American politics -- it has swung to the Republicans. Most of the South is beyond the Democrats' reach, and what remains is moving steadily into the Republican column. The twin effects of race and religion produce a socially conservative, electorally hostile environment for most Democratic candidates. What's wrong with Kansas is even more wrong in the South, where cultural issues matter most to voters.</p>
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<p>Yet far too many politicians and pundits still subscribe to the idea that Democrats must recapture the South. This southern nostalgia goes beyond sentimentality: It is a dangerously self-destructive form of political myopia which, uncorrected, will only relegate the Democrats to minority-party status for a generation. The notion that Democrats should pin their hopes for revival on the tail of a southern donkey is no less absurd than witnessing the children's variant of the party game, for both involve desperate attempts to hit elusive targets while wandering around blindfolded.</p>
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<p>Meanwhile, political attitudes and demographic changes in other parts of the country are more favorable to Democratic messages and messengers. The Midwest and Southwest are the nation's most competitive regions. There are opportunities to expand Democratic margins in the Mountain red states while consolidating control over the reliably blue northeastern and Pacific coast states. Before dreaming of fortynine-state presidential landslides like those of Richard Nixon and Ronald Reagan, the Democrats ought to first figure out how to win twenty-nine states. And that means capturing Arizona -- or even Alaska -- before targeting Alabama.</p>
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<p>Republicans cannot win without the South, Schaller argues, but they also can't win with the South <em>alone</em>. Much as Democrats were confined to the South for decades prior to the New Deal, the Democrats should South but little else. After winning and governing successfully elsewhere, Democrats can then present their record of achievement to the South -- the nation's most conservative region, but one that is steadily assimilating with the politics of the rest of America and, therefore, will become more competitive in the future.</p>
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<p>But for now, Democrats must put strategy ahead of sentimentality. To form a new and enduring majority coalition, they must whistle past their electoral graveyard. They must whistle past Dixie.</p>
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从结构上讲,这本书的处理方式非常大胆,甚至可以说带有一丝实验性。作者似乎并不满足于线性的时间推进,而是频繁地运用闪回、插入式的独白,甚至是不同时间点上的平行叙事来构建整个故事的拼图。起初,这种跳跃感可能会让习惯了传统叙事模式的读者感到一丝困惑,需要集中注意力去重新定位自己所处的时间轴。但一旦你适应了这种节奏,你会惊叹于作者是如何将这些看似碎片化的信息,最终编织成一张天衣无缝的、令人信服的完整图景。这种高超的结构控制力,让故事的悬念得以层层递进,每一个被揭示的真相都像是拼图的最后一块,带来的冲击力是加倍的。它挑战了我们对于“阅读体验”的固有认知,迫使我们更积极地参与到意义的建构过程中。这种复杂性和精巧性,无疑提升了作品的文学价值。
评分这本书的语言风格简直是一股清新的旋风,完全出乎我的意料。我原本以为会读到那种传统、略显沉重的文学表达,结果却发现作者的文字充满了跳跃感和一种近乎音乐般的韵律。那些句子结构经常出人意料地组合在一起,但神奇的是,它们总是能精准地捕捉到人物最微妙的内心波动,或者描绘出环境那种难以言喻的氛围。读起来,仿佛作者在用一种全新的语法和词汇,重新定义了“美感”。我发现自己常常会因为某一个措辞的精妙而停下来,反复咀嚼。这种对语言的掌控力,让原本可能枯燥的情节瞬间变得鲜活起来。它不像是在阅读一个被设计好的剧本,更像是在聆听一位技艺高超的吟游诗人,将他所见所感,用最富感染力的方式倾泻而出。对于那些追求文字质感的读者来说,这本书绝对是视觉和听觉的双重盛宴,它提醒着我们,叙事的力量有时就蕴藏在每一个单词的选择和排列之中。
评分我必须承认,我是在朋友的极力推荐下才开始接触这部作品的,起初还有些犹豫,毕竟现在市面上充斥着太多浮躁的作品。然而,这本书却以一种近乎固执的姿态,坚守着对深度和广度的追求。它涉及的主题是如此庞大且复杂,但作者却巧妙地将其融入到个体命运的讲述之中,使得宏大的历史背景不会让人感到压抑,反而成为了支撑人物成长的坚实土壤。书中对于社会结构、人与人之间复杂关系网的剖析,简直是教科书级别的演示。你可以在故事的边缘看到时代洪流的巨大阴影,也能清晰地捕捉到小人物在其中如何努力挣扎、求取生存空间。这种将微观个体命运与宏观社会变迁完美结合的叙事手法,极大地拓宽了我的视野,让我不仅是在读一个故事,更像是在进行一场关于人性与社会的深度研修。它要求读者投入思考,绝非那种可以轻松翻过的“快餐文学”。
评分这本书的叙事节奏简直让人欲罢不能,作者对细节的把握达到了令人惊叹的程度。我感觉自己仿佛真的走进了那个特定的历史时期,空气中弥漫着旧时光特有的味道。每一个场景的描摹都极其生动,无论是那种老式房屋里昏暗的光线,还是乡间小路上风吹过树叶的沙沙声,都仿佛被作者用画笔细细描绘出来,跃然纸上。更让我佩服的是人物塑造,他们不是扁平的符号,而是活生生、有血有肉的个体。他们的挣扎、他们的渴望、他们的那些小心翼翼的秘密,都层层叠叠地展现在我们面前,让人忍不住去探究他们内心深处的动机。我尤其喜欢作者在处理情感转折时那种微妙的拿捏,没有丝毫的刻意煽情,一切都顺理成章地发生,却又在不经意间击中内心最柔软的地方。这种细腻而又深刻的笔触,使得整部作品具有了一种超越时间的力量,读完之后,那种挥之不去的氛围感和人物的余韵,久久地萦绕在心头,让人回味无穷。它不仅仅是一个故事,更像是一段被精心保存的、充满生命力的记忆片段。
评分对我而言,这本书最触动人心的地方在于它对“失落感”的精准捕捉与描绘。它不仅仅是关于失去某样具体的东西,更多的是关于一种存在于时间长河中的、不可逆转的疏离感和怀旧情结。角色们似乎永远都在追逐着一个已经消逝的、或许从未真正存在过的“完美时刻”。作者用大量的篇幅去描绘那些细微的、转瞬即逝的美好瞬间,正是为了反衬出它们最终被时间无情吞噬的必然性。这种情绪的铺陈极其克制,没有歇斯底里的呐喊,只有一种深沉的、如同秋日黄昏般的忧郁。它让你在合上书本后,不是感到愤怒或悲伤,而是一种深沉的、带着敬意的平静——接受生活中的不完美和必然的消逝,也许就是成长的一部分。这种对存在本质的哲学性探讨,使得这本书具有了超越娱乐的深刻意义。
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