The state of Kentucky put a Republican in office (as Governor) for the first time in 3 decades.

In Mississippi, voters elected a Republican Governor for only the second time in post-civil war era.
http://news.myway.com/top/article/id/26383...47|reuters.html

Will this have any effect on the '04 elections?
Will Dems have to rethink their strategies to make up for this big loss?

I don't know that this will have any direct impact on the 2004 elections. Bush won both Kentucky and Mississippi handily in 2000. If anything it shows that his support in the South hasn't eroded over the past 3 years. I think the California recall election result is probably more significant than these two elections are.

As far as your second question is concerned I think that's kind of the message that Zell Miller has been trying to get through to the Democratic Party. No question they are losing, and losing badly in the south and as long as they continue drifting to the left, that's going to continue.

Let me speak as one who has lived in the South for fifteen years, and as one with no loyalty to either party.

I have to agree with Aquilla that this has little, if any, effect on the 2004 election. Let's face it; unless there is some huge change in the situation, GWB has the South locked up solid. (I do not include Florida as part of the South, by the way.) This area is very strong for cultural conservatives (the "Christian Right," if you will) which is the group most loyal to the Republican Party and GWB.

If the Democrats want to win more elections in the South, they have no choice except to become more centrist and populist. It's also a sad reality that ethnicity plays an important role in party politics in this region. The Republicans have a strong advantage among white males. The Democrats have a strong advantage among African-Americans and maybe a slight advantage among women. (Although this "gender gap" has been reduced somewhat, now that "security" is a much stronger issue among women.) One interesting factor is the large increase in the Hispanic population in the South recently. This will probably be an advantage for the Democrats if they emphasize economic issues, possibly an advantage for the Republicans if they emphasize cultural issues.

The democrats aren't going to win Mississippi, period. If they try to win they're going to lose in more moderate states. The state elections are more about two candidates than republicans and democrats. The Democrats should just try to stick to their agenda that can appeal to the majority of Americans.

Here is my take on the DNC as it stands now.

Somebody over there better start taking Marketing 101 and buy a clue. The constant trash talk is not working any more. GWB doesn't have much to do with the gov of a state..why even bring up his policies for the mid-east for elections? Right now I cannot see the DNC surviving the RNC landslide that is going to happen in 2004...everything shows this..what is going on in the DNC?

Here is what I suggest for the DNC... WHAT IS YOUR VISION FOR AMERICA AND HOW ARE YOU GOING TO ACCOMPLISH IT! Geesh...

If they don't start buying a clue GWB is going to walk all over the DNC in 2004.

Looks like the same may be true for Louisiana too although it's very close. In fact, if Jindal wins, he will be the 1st Indian-American governer ever I heard of any state. If Blanco wins she'll be the 1st woman gov for LA. Big changes going on in the nebulous world of LA politics.

Of course having Republican governors will make it harder to win in '04. But I've got friends who live in the South and they told me they voted for Bush in '00 because they didn't really see any differences between Gore & Bush. They now want to vote for Kucinich after I told them about him. The problem with the Democratic Party is that it keeps getting more and more Bushlike and so people don't know who to vote for. They just get to the point where they either stay home or they just "pick one". I think that if the Democratic Candidate states that he/she wants the PATRIOT Act repealed and is willing to stand up for the Constitution, he/she will win more votes in the South. Also, the Democrats have to be more tolerant of people owning guns. They can't say things like "gun owners belong in prison" or associate themselves with people who do. That's why Gore lost the South -- he didn't appear to Southern folk as having an open-mind regarding people who own guns.