Southern Democratic leaders may have once counted Bill Clinton as a favorite son, then soured on him as the Clinton years brought strong Republican gains in most parts of Dixie, but it appears that they aren’t bearing a grudge when it comes to Hillary Clinton. Southern Political Report now counts Clinton as having the most endorsements from Southern members of Congress, at 11 (out of 51 total congressional endorsements), vs. John Edwards at 9 (out of 15) and Barack Obama at 4 (out of 22).

My impression is that among lower-level Democratic pols and consultants in the South, however, there is still a lot of nervousness about Clinton at the top of the 2008 ticket. Few members of Congress are in competitive seats, but an anti-Hillary turnout among GOP and GOP-leaning independents could flip some close statewide and legislative races.