I always enjoy raising Republican blood pressure with the "Bush's home state is Connecticut" howler. A significant political realignment took place in Tennessee during the 1990s, and I wasn't at all surprised Gore lost. For decades, Tennessee's moderate politics more closely mirrored that of Arkansas. Now it's moved closer to the arch-conservatism of its neighbors to the South, Mississippi, Alabama and Georgia. A Democrat probably can't win a national election in any of these states for the foreseeable future....just as a Republican probably can't win a national election anywhere in the northeast (except maybe New Hampshire) for the foreseeable future.