Reinventing one’s political positioning is a survival tactic.

Southerners are downright feisty about their independence. There's a great sign at a park on the Alabama-Tennessee border which proclaims "We Dare Defend Our Rights!" Yet this rebellious streak doesn't seem to translate to independent candidates or third party challengers, who tend to fare poorly in Dixie.

The ghost of Joseph McCarthy lives on in Donald Trump as he accuses President Obama of treason, slanders women, mocks people with disabilities, and impugns every politician or journalist who dares call him out for the liar and bamboozler he is.