Editing Designing Women (section)

==Political views==
Show creators Linda Bloodworth-Thomason and Harry Thomason were strong supporters of longtime friend and then-[[Democratic Party (United States)|Democratic]] nominee for President of the United States, [[Bill Clinton]] and his wife [[Hillary Clinton|Hillary]]. Midway through the seventh season, Julia is stranded in the airport while attempting to attend [[First inauguration of Bill Clinton|Clinton's first inauguration]], in an episode ("The Odyssey") that aired five days prior. Earlier in the series, Charlene mentions working for Clinton during his [[Arkansas]] governorship. Another Clinton-related joke was the introduction during the sixth season of the prissy character, Allison Sugarbaker, who makes it quite clear to the others that she attended [[Wellesley College]], Hillary's alma mater. An early third season episode ("The Candidate") also revolves around Julia running for [[County commission|commissioner]]; she debates on television against a conservative candidate, to whom she eventually loses.

In reality, Dixie Carter was a [[libertarian]]-leaning [[Republican Party (United States)|Republican]] who disagreed with some of the liberal views expressed by her onscreen character. However, she did support liberal causes, such as civil rights and same-sex marriage.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.baltimoresun.com/news/bs-xpm-1992-11-22-1992327253-story.html |title=The heart of Dixie |date=1992-11-22 |work=[[The Baltimore Sun]] |access-date=2021-03-12 |publisher=[[Times Mirror Company]]}}</ref> Carter cut a deal with the Thomasons in which Julia would sing a song in a future episode for every liberal-leaning monologue.<ref name="paley">{{ cite AV media |title=The Designing Women Reunion ''(on ''Designing Women'' Season 1 DVD)'' |date=2006 |author=Paley Center for Media |author-link=Paley Center for Media |publisher=[[Shout! Factory]]}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.commercialappeal.com/news/2010/apr/10/designing-women-actress-dixie-carter-dies-70/ |title='Designing Women' actress Dixie Carter dies at 70; had roots in West Tennessee |date=2010-04-11 |work=[[The Commercial Appeal]] |archive-date=2010-04-13 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100413035655/http://www.commercialappeal.com/news/2010/apr/10/designing-women-actress-dixie-carter-dies-70/ |url-status=dead |publisher=[[E. W. Scripps Company]]}}</ref>