"PPP released another poll of North Carolina voters this week that had similar findings, with only 54% of respondents saying with certainty that they believe Obama was born in the United States, 26% saying he was not and 20% unsure. There's a big divide by political party, with only 24% of N.C. Republicans believing Obama was born in the United States compared to 63% of Independents and 75% of Democrats." (Emphasis is mine.)

From South Carolina:

"A new poll of registered South Carolina voters shows that, among other things, the birther movement is alive and well in the Palmetto State.
Among Republicans and Republican-leaning independents (henceforth referred to as RRLs), who were the focus of the Winthrop University study, 75 percent said the term "socialist" describes President Barack Obama well or very well. Thirty percent of the same group said Obama is a Muslim; 36 percent said he was definitely or probably born in another country. [...] An April poll of the same population, taken in the wake of Donald Trump's birther proclamations and before the White House had published Obama's long-form birth certificate, showed 41 percent of RRLs saying the president was definitely or probably born in another country." (Emphasis is mine.)

Further, the Washington Post's Kathleen Parker, herself a white Southern Republican, noted back in August 2009 when since-retired Sen. John Voinivich (R-OH) charged that Southern whites were leading the GOP to grief:

"Alas, Voinovich was not entirely wrong. Not all Southern Republicans are wing nuts. Nor does the GOP have a monopoly on ignorance or racism. And, the South, for all its sins, is also lush with beauty, grace and mystery. Nevertheless, it is true that the GOP is fast becoming regionalized below the Mason-Dixon line and increasingly associated with some of the South's worst ideas. [...] In a poll commissioned by the liberal blog Daily Kos, participants were asked: 'Do you believe that Barack Obama was born in the United States of America or not?' Hefty majorities in the Northeast, the Midwest and the West believe Obama was born in the United States. But in the land of cotton, where old times are not by God forgotten, only 47 percent believe Obama was born in America and 30 percent aren't sure. Southern Republicans, it seems, have seceded from sanity." (Emphasis is mine.)

I'm sorry if you're offended by what's been noted here, but it is what it is. I suppose that were I white and living in the South, I might very well take exception to the notion myself and decry its sweeping generalization.

You're absolutely right in stating that not all Southerners are racists, and further that distinct pockets of racism are also alive and well up north. Hell, I could introduce you to more than a few members of my father's immediate family in northern Illinois and southern Wisconsin, who would no doubt be happy to prove the latter point.

That said, however, as numerous polls repeatedly bore out over his first term and the late campaign, and which the 2012 election results later confirmed, far many more citizens down South were ready to vote against the president on the basis of his race than elsewhere in the country.

I think one of the things that electing Obama did was bring a lot of the covert racism out in the Republican Party and it has exposed itself in a vicious backlash.  I don't think it is necessarily a bad thing either.  It is hard to quit doing something that you are in denial of even doing because it is so covert and deep-seated.

The Jets were so bad, so very bad.....

They almost had me thinking that maybe the Rams weren't so bad after all. Then of course sanity returned.....

1. Carter (1976) - 48%
   
2. Clinton (1996) - 44
   
3. Obama (2008) - 43
   
4. Gore - 42
   
5. Kerry - 41
   
6. Dukakis - 40
   
7. Clinton(1992) - 39
   
7. Obama (2012) - 39
   
9. Carter (1980) - 36
   
10. Mondale - 34

At least USC and Boise State are not afraid to schedule tough nonconference opponents on a regular basis, even if it means going on the road.

Aside from having to play Florida State in Tallahassee every other year, when was the last time University of Florida played a meaningful nonconference regular season road game? When was the last time they played a Pac-12 team? I bet I could go back four decades on both questions and still be able to count them all on one hand, with at least one or two fingers left over.