Bringing Carter into this discussion is apt. Carter did this when the Southern Strategy was at its most effective. Sure, Nixon imploding helped him out, but he was also very popular, and his loosing in 1980 had as much to do with Ted Kennedy attacking him from the left in the primaries as with Reagan. Sure, no one knew how bad Reagan was going to turn out, but Carter might well have realigned the South if he had held on. I wonder if that's what Atwater was thinking of when he named Clinton a threat.People forget that Jimmy Carter ran as an outsider. Know what sucks about outsiders? They have no connections and can't get anything done.
Page 1. Before Clinton so much as investigated running for President, Atwater had already started a campaign to defeat him as governor so that Bush wouldn't have to deal with him in '92. Atwater stated publicly that the Democrats' only chance of retaking the presidency was a fiscally-conservative southern democrat and the only one of any merit was Clinton.