Southern Democrats see hope for first time in years, seek to

A coffee shop in the reddest part of Alabama, packed shoulder to shoulder for a Democratic meetup. You don't see that every day, and good for them for showing up. But the honest question nobody in that room wants to answer is what they're actually for. The national party's brand is built on things most Southerners reject, and a full house doesn't change the math in Washington or Montgomery.

Southern Democrats haven't held real footholds here in generations, and hope is cheap currency. They're betting that frustration with the GOP primary circus will hand them a seat or two in the legislature. Maybe they pick up a local race here and there. But hope is not a platform. Turning out a crowd is not turning out voters on Election Day. Democrats keep mistaking anger at Washington for affection for their agenda.

The party has spent years telling Southerners they're the problem, not the solution. You can't call half the country bigots and then expect them to vote for you because you rented a coffee shop. Republicans have plenty to answer for, and we don't pretend otherwise. But the left's entire Southern strategy seems to be waiting for the GOP to mess up.

If they want to be relevant, they'd start by respecting the people they're asking to support them. A crowd in south Alabama is a start, not a comeback. Until they change what they believe, they'll stay the party of big cities and coastal suburbs. In the reddest part of a red state, that's a losing hand, no matter how many show up for coffee.