NEW ORLEANS -- Howard Dean's voter registration bus rolled into Louisiana on Friday as the chairman of the Democratic National Committee promised a new "road map" for Dixie Democrats.

Bill Haber / AP

Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean shakes hands with Annie Zoller Kiefer at a voter registration rally in New Orleans.

His big blue bus, festooned brightly with Sen. Barack Obama's campaign slogans and the "Register for Change" web address, was greeted by dozens of cheering supporters in New Orleans when it turned onto Canal Street, in the heart of downtown New Orleans.

"We have a new Democratic road map that runs through the South and the West, not just New England and the East," Dean told the crowd.

For the next six weeks, Dean will be touring the country, culminating in a swing through the Midwest on the way to the Democratic National Convention in Denver. Dean says the tour is beginning in the South because Democrats haven't won broad support in the region since Georgia's Jimmy Carter ran for president.

"I think we made a mistake not coming to the South for 30 years," Dean said.

President George W. Bush carried Louisiana in the last election by a substantial margin -- 56 percent to 42 percent, and Aaron Baer, the Republican Party of Louisiana's communications director, expects no change this time.

"Howard Dean's tour of Louisiana is a superficial effort to make it appear that Barack Obama has a chance here," Baer said Friday. "Obama is not advertising in the state, hasn't visited in months, and is down by over 20 points in the latest poll."

Dean's visits, and the Democrats' efforts to register voters was more likely a move to help their candidates in the upcoming Congressional races, Baer said.

Dean acknowledged it would be difficult for Obama to win Louisiana, adding "We can only win if we register voters."

Alex Okrentz, the Obama organizer for the state, urged those present to volunteer for Obama's campaign and to work to bring in their friends and family as volunteers.

The Obama organization will have only about 15 paid workers in the state, he said, adding they hope to open offices in Baton Rouge and New Orleans.

"But we're going to work for votes in every part of this state," he said.

The bus was scheduled to go to Hattiesburg, Miss., in the afternoon and Jackson, Miss., on Friday evening.

Dean was to return to Louisiana on Saturday, visiting Shreveport in the morning and Baton Rouge in the afternoon.

Democrats dominated the South through the first half of the 20th century.

Obama has predicted he can change a trend of a Republican South, in part by registering black voters who participate in elections at a lower rate than whites. Obama and Dean have been united in their commitment to campaign for voters in all 50 states, even those where Democrats have performed poorly in the past and haven't built an organization.

(Copyright 2008 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)