Religion in the South

I know Democrats are always saying that people in the south are racist bigots. I've been to the south a number of times and my family lived there for two years, and I just never really thought that to be true. There is still a lot of racial tension in the south, but for the most part, I think southern whites would support a black conservative--assuming he was a viable candidate--over a white liberal.

Now it looks like a large number of southerners are bigots, not about race, but about religion. Huckabee is doing very well in the south, not because he is conservative but because he is non-Mormon/anti-Mormon. The amount of southern hostility to Mormons is quite depressing, especially since this is mostly a one way street. Utah Mormons overwhelmingly supported Bush in 2004, giving him his highest margin of victory in any state. In contrast, Evangelicals prefer liberals to Mormons.

I think we are witnessing the end of the Republican Party and even marginally conservative governance.