A sharp letter to Sanders from top Dixie Democrats: Don't run down the South

Bernie Sanders gets a dressing down from Southern Democratic leaders for diminishing Hillary Clinton's wins along an arc of states from Virginia to Texas. Bernie Sanders gets a dressing down from Southern Democratic leaders for diminishing Hillary Clinton's wins along an arc of states from Virginia to Texas. Photo: GENNA MARTIN, SEATTLEPI.COM Photo: GENNA MARTIN, SEATTLEPI.COM Image 1 of / 1 Caption Close A sharp letter to Sanders from top Dixie Democrats: Don't run down the South 1 / 1 Back to Gallery

Sen. Bernie Sanders should stop disparaging the South and saying it doesn't count for Democrats, a group of seven influential Dixie Democrats told the 2016 presidential hopeful in a blunt Wednesday letter.

Sanders has frequently explained that Hillary Clinton's delegate lead comes as a result of sweeping Democratic primaries from Virginia to Texas. The self-described "democratic socialist" has characterized the South as the most conservative region of America.

The party leaders, including such Clinton supporters as ex-South Carolina Gov. Jim Hodges and former Democratic National Committee chair Don Fowler, upbraided Sanders. They wrote:

"The greatest asset we have as a party is our diversity -- a diversity of cultures, religions, ethnicities, experiences and backgrounds.

"Yet, over the course of this Democratic primary, you and your surrogates have sought to minimize Secretary Hillary Clinton's victories throughout the South as a symptom of a region that, as you put it, 'distorts reality.' You argue that the South is 'the most conservative part' of America, implying states that traditionally vote Republican in a general election are not worth contesting in a Democratic primary."

Not so on several counts, they argued, pointing to President Obama's victories in Virginia and Florida, and to his 2008 win in North Carolina.

"We can't write off states like Tennessee and Georgia," they added. "Even Texas can turn blue in less than a generation," they wrote.

And there is the matter of race.

Clinton victories in the South have been built on a bedrock of African-American votes. Sanders has notably failed to break through among African-American and Hispanic voters.

The Democratic leaders noted than 55 percent of the nation's African-American population is in the South: 105 Southern counties have a black population that is 50 percent or higher.

"The African-American community has been the most reliable and consistent vote for the Democratic Party for a generation, and in this year's primaries, in the Southern states of South Carolina, Georgia, Mississippi, Louisiana, Alabama and North Carolina, African-Americans represented between 31-71 percent of the Democratic electorate.

"To dismiss the importance of this region is to minimize the importance of the voices of a core constituency of our party."

Sanders has been frequent with his derogatory remarks.

"I think having so many Southern states go first kind of distorts reality," he said on Comedy Central's "The Nightly Show" earlier this month.

In the Brooklyn debate last month, Sanders argued: "Secretary Clinton cleaned our clock in the Deep South. No question about it, we got murdered there. That is the most conservative part of this great country."

The Democratic leaders noted that Sanders has won in such states as Idaho, Utah and Oklahoma, which have not been carried by a Democrat in 52 years.

"Southern Democrats already have to deal with Republicans refusing to expand Medicaid, deteriorating infrastructure and the lack of funding for our public schools," they wrote.

"We need our national Democratic leaders to invest in our races and causes -- to amplify our voices, not diminish them."