Obama's Southern Strategy?

Today we learn that President-elect Barack Obama will appoint Virginia Governor Tom Kaine to head the Democratic National Committee. You may remember that last fall some floated Kaine's name as a potential Vice-Presidential nominee. Kaine has good relations with Republicans in Virginia and is seen as a rising southern star in Democratic circles. Is this the beginning of a southern strategy by the new President? That remains to be seen, but the case of North Carolina, Virginia, and Florida indicate that some states in the South are legitimately in play for the first time since Jimmy Carter. Is Kaine's nomination a sign that Democratics are going to make a real effort to gain a stronger foothold in the South? Professor Jim Cobb, a noted southern historian, has offered some interesting analysis about what happened to the Republicans when they "gave their hearts to Dixie." Will two-party politics return to the South? We'll wait and see.