Republicans keep grip of South, but at what cost?

Tuesday's U.S. elections leave little doubt that the Republicans' Nixon-era strategy to win over white Southerners has been a resounding success. But have they lost the rest of the country along the way?

For all the talk of President-elect Obama's inroads in "New South" states like Virginia and North Carolina, the numbers in the Deep South are stark. Some 90 percent of white voters supported Republican John McCain in Alabama and Mississippi, according to Associated Press exit polls. In South Carolina, Louisiana, Georgia and Texas, it was about 75 percent or more.

Three of the Republicans' four congressional pickups came in the region, which …