Was 1948 Truman's win or Dewey's loss?

[pbrower2a]

Truman ran a good campaign, and Dewey ran an execrable campaign.  Dewey got only 189 electoral votes, 47 from his own state (New York) and 62 from neighboring states. He seems to have campaigned little outside the Northeast, getting only 28 electoral votes west of the Mississippi River. He lost states that would eventually go reliably Republican beginning in 1952.


"Congratulations, Tom Dewey!
You won by a landslide today!
Through thick and through thin.
We knew you would win
'Cause who'd ever vote to let Truman stay in?
Congratulations, Tom Dewey!
Your Republican dreams have come true!
Here's a victory roar
For President Number Thirty-Four
The White House... is waiting... for you!"

Had it not been for the racist Strom Thurmond campaign, Truman might have won 342 electoral votes, which is a slightly bigger win than Barack Obama got in 2012.