“[T]here have been Southern presidents and there have been conservative presidents. But the Southern presidents have not been conservative, and the conservative presidents have not been Southern.” [Since Polk, until George W. Bush.]
Michael Lind, Made in Texas (2003)
Lind also says:
The pre-modern mind [conservative Southerner] can conceive of economic expansion only in terms of applying traditional techniques to more resources. The idea of using innovative machinery or more efficient organizational techniques to produce more with the same amount of land, labor, or raw materials—or even with smaller amounts—is alien to this archaic mentality.
Hence the reliance on more oil, not more fuel-efficient cars; more immigrant labor, not highly mechanized and automated industries; etc.