but keep in mind, the Southern Strategy still worked in TN this year to some extent.

Also, the point of the Southern Strategy was to break the back of the traditional lock on power held by the dems since the civil war in the south, the goal being to shatter the ruling coalition of northern urban ethic whites with southern segregationists - which it did.  However, time marches forward, the country has been changing, and the southern strategy may still sway elections in the south but IMO it has become a cancer on the whole GOP, hurting brand "republican" in the eyes of what would otherwise be the traditional GOP's northern and western constituencies (middle class sub and exurbans).

Just as dems couldn't seal the deal by being just a coastal party, as demographics continue to shift so too will the GOP become a regional party, mostly because they will be so closely tied with rascism and racists.