From a Southern reader now living in the West:

Do the voters in Atlanta, Knoxville, Raleigh, etc. identify with the kind of southerner who owns a confederate flag? The majority of southern males do not drive around with confederate flags on their trucks. I suspect that those who do, rarely vote anyway. Is Dean pandering to racists? No. He’s trying to pander to southerners. What strikes me as funny is that the other candidates have not responded appropriately. Dean tried to pander; instead he insulted many voters in the South. Dean shows a complete misunderstanding of the South, and the other candidates — by not picking up on this — show a similar lack of understanding. Surely John Edwards should get it right.
Dean strikes me as not quite ready for prime time — similar to Jimmy Carter making comments about Montezuma’s Revenge during his first trip to Mexico.
The whole pack is pitiful. If this is the best the Democrats can offer, I may have to join the Republican party.