I grew up in South Carolina. Known for its awesomely backwoods political mentality, South Carolina, at least in my lifetime, has always been an experiment in near-unchecked conservative-minded politics.
If you wonder where people like Tea Party favorite Michele Bachmann find support, you need look no further than my hometown and small towns like it across the Palmetto state.
Where I'm from, Democrats don't win elections. If you want to win, join the GOP, run in their primary, beat your opponents and run unopposed in November. It's how politics are played there, especially in local elections.