re: What are your geographic boundaries for the South?

Many of the inhabitants of southern Missouri consider themselves Southern and have closer ties to the South than the Midwest. Particularly, Southeast Missouri, including the delta and all of the Bootheel, which are much more Southern than the rest of the state.

I'd argue that a good portion of eastern and northern Texas is still the South. Maybe draw a diagonal line from Wichita Falls down to Lake Jackson and the coast.