  I discovered urlLink this highly interesting article on the difference between labor uninions and trial lawyers in the South.
All of the states that Mark listed in his post are Right To Work states except for Pennsylvania and West Virginia which so happen to be key battleground states for Bush and Kerry. It is no secret that the GOP supports the Right To Work Foundation and that the South is courting all the auto makers and other manufacturers to build in their states.
I don't have the numbers in front of me but I do believe that many of the Southern states have the least-educated workforce in the nation. So the GOP and the Southern business cabal feed on the poor and ignorant to keep their machine greased and running. Anybody can see why the GOP hates trial lawyers and labor unions because they are in the way of their right-wing 'progress'. 
