Most of my life the archetype of The Politician was a southerner or maybe a Texan. The Voters Who Mattered were all white Southerners. "White" being a key term. Sure the realignment was happening, as the weird Democratic coalition which included white Southerners and white southern politicians was dissolving. That was worth talking about in a limited context. But the South was always portrayed as a white place, including the rural South. Even today I bet most non-Southern Americans think all black people live in New York, Baltimore, Chicago, DC, and Los Angeles (!!), when of course the South - and the rural South - has huge (huger) black populations.
And now it's the heartland. A place which also isn't as white as is portrayed. African-American and Hispanic residents everywhere, even in places like Mayo Pete's South Bend. But the Heartland, of course, means Real American so it means White.
