Title: Why did Carter tank in the West in 1976? Post by: LastMcGovernite on July 26, 2009, 10:46:04 PM Looking at the maps, it seems odd why Jimmy Carter did so badly in the West. With the obvious exception of Hawaii, Texas was the westernmost state he carried. Why couldn't Carter pull off a win in CA? Or Washington and Oregon, which both went for Humphrey and Dukakis? Moreover, 1976 is the only time since New Mexico was admitted to the union that it failed to vote for whomever won the popular vote. What gives?
What makes it even more unusual was the lack of Republican pull out West- Ford was a Midwesterner, and Dole was from Kansas- the safest of Republican states. It wasn't like 2008, where both McCain and Palin could legitimately claim to be westerners. Title: Re: Why did Carter tank in the West in 1976? Post by: Alexander Hamilton on July 26, 2009, 10:50:28 PM Cause it was Jimmy Carter, one of the worst candidates/presidents ever.
Title: Re: Why did Carter tank in the West in 1976? Post by: ○∙◄☻¥tπ[╪AV┼cVê└ on July 26, 2009, 10:56:41 PM Cause it was Jimmy Carter, one of the worst candidates/presidents ever. So, explain Arkansas. Title: Re: Why did Carter tank in the West in 1976? Post by: fezzyfestoon on July 26, 2009, 11:41:56 PM Cause it was Jimmy Carter, one of the worst candidates/presidents ever. It's Arkansas, does it take more than that to explain it? It's not exactly a template other states are held up to. Title: Re: Why did Carter tank in the West in 1976? Post by: War on Want on July 26, 2009, 11:47:33 PM Cause it was Jimmy Carter, one of the worst candidates/presidents ever. Title: Re: Why did Carter tank in the West in 1976? Post by: Alexander Hamilton on July 27, 2009, 12:41:45 AM Cause it was Jimmy Carter, one of the worst candidates/presidents ever. Yeah. And your post contributed so much more to the discussion. Title: Re: Why did Carter tank in the West in 1976? Post by: King on July 27, 2009, 02:23:09 AM This thread gets an F.
To answer your question, the West wasn't the least bit Democratic until the late 80s/early 90s. And on a lot of issues Gerald Ford was more liberal than Christian Southern Democrat Jimmy Carter anyway. Title: Re: Why did Carter tank in the West in 1976? Post by: Joe Republic on July 27, 2009, 03:15:07 AM I wouldn't say he tanked, exactly. He came within two thousand votes in Oregon; two percent in California and New Mexico; and four percent in Washington. The other Western states were still traditionally Republican at that time, and mostly still are.
Title: Re: Why did Carter tank in the West in 1976? Post by: Antonio the Sixth on July 27, 2009, 07:16:30 AM In fact, Carter missed California and Oregon by very few points.
Title: Re: Why did Carter tank in the West in 1976? Post by: Eraserhead on July 27, 2009, 08:04:47 AM Better yet, why did Ford tank in the east? ;)
Title: Re: Why did Carter tank in the West in 1976? Post by: J. J. on July 27, 2009, 09:10:32 AM Cause it was Jimmy Carter, one of the worst candidates/presidents ever. So, explain Arkansas. Southern state, and Carter was the Confederacy's Revenge. Partly. Also, it was a lot more Democratic at the time; Reagan barely won it in 1980. Title: Re: Why did Carter tank in the West in 1976? Post by: Badger on July 27, 2009, 12:45:42 PM I wouldn't say he tanked, exactly. He came within two thousand votes in Oregon; two percent in California and New Mexico; and four percent in Washington. The other Western states were still traditionally Republican at that time, and mostly still are. Also, the Democratic swing in the west didn't start picking up steam until 80's, when the religious right began scaring suburban swing voters (a process slowed somewhat by Reagan's broad popularity in the mid-80s). The west's voting population is far more hispanic now than in the 70's, another bad sign for long-term GOP resurgence in the region. Title: Re: Why did Carter tank in the West in 1976? Post by: pogo stick on July 27, 2009, 06:08:38 PM Cause it was Jimmy Carter, one of the worst candidates/presidents ever. I finally agree with you Title: Re: Why did Carter tank in the West in 1976? Post by: DS0816 on July 27, 2009, 07:09:51 PM Take a look at the swings on all states between 1972 and 1976 elections, and observe the margins, rather than relying on responses that don't even attempt to answer the question (specifically ones by Alexander Hamilton).
In Election 1976, 39th president Jimmy Carter swung every state. He swung the popular vote +25.21% for a win in unseating 38th president Gerald Ford by +2.06%. (In the previous, Election 1972, Republican incumbent and 37th president Richard Nixon destroyed Democratic challenger George McGovern by +23.15%.) If you're not following: 1972 Nixon, with a 49-state rout against McGovern, had such high margins in states like California (Nixon: +13.46%; Ford: +1.78%; Carter swing +11.68%) and bellwethers Nevada (Nixon: +27.36%; Ford: +4.36%; Carter swing +23.01%) and New Mexico (Nixon: +24.49%; Ford: +2.47%; Carter swing +22.03%) to a point Carter didn't quite collapse those margins. Final result was that they were within reach for a pickoff by Carter. And for states topping at +5 percent (meaning not going +6 points and beyond), Carter was in reach of swinging more than 10 additional states to the additional 22 he gad flipped, for carriage of 23 (plus District of Columbia), they were worth 178 electoral votes that could have won him Election 1976 with 475 electoral votes. https://uselectionatlas.org/RESULTS/index.html Title: Re: Why did Carter tank in the West in 1976? Post by: Ebowed on July 28, 2009, 12:33:10 AM Or Washington and Oregon, which both went for Humphrey and Dukakis? Oregon didn't vote for Humphrey. Title: Re: Why did Carter tank in the West in 1976? Post by: 12th Doctor on July 28, 2009, 12:25:32 PM I don't know, but I would imagine it has something to do with Billy Beer.
Title: Re: Why did Carter tank in the West in 1976? Post by: Rob on July 28, 2009, 04:22:54 PM He lost Oregon because he wasn't a social liberal and it was Gene McCarthy's best state.
Title: Re: Why did Carter tank in the West in 1976? Post by: War on Want on July 28, 2009, 04:39:40 PM A small reason was that Carter was a southerner and Ford was somewhat moderate and I am sure that brought some voters over to Ford that would have voted for Udall or Hart.
Title: Re: Why did Carter tank in the West in 1976? Post by: Person Man on July 29, 2009, 10:11:04 PM A small reason was that Carter was a southerner and Ford was somewhat moderate and I am sure that brought some voters over to Ford that would have voted for Udall or Hart. Pretty much. Title: Re: Why did Carter tank in the West in 1976? Post by: Kaine for Senate '18 on August 02, 2009, 07:34:03 PM A small reason was that Carter was a southerner and Ford was somewhat moderate and I am sure that brought some voters over to Ford that would have voted for Udall or Hart. Yup. Title: Re: Why did Carter tank in the West in 1976? Post by: JoeyJoeJoe on August 03, 2009, 12:20:27 PM The country was also trending GOP in the mid/late 70s. Watergate, and the fact that Carter was from the Deep South, temporarily messed up the political trends in 1976. The West was particularly moving to the right, which became even more obvious in 1980.
Title: Re: Why did Carter tank in the West in 1976? Post by: Antonio the Sixth on August 03, 2009, 12:35:48 PM The country was also trending GOP in the mid/late 70s. Watergate, and the fact that Carter was from the Deep South, temporarily messed up the political trends in 1976. The West was particularly moving to the right, which became even more obvious in 1980. Wrong. California only trended GOP in 1980 because of home state effect, and then West coast heavily trended dem during all the period. Title: Re: Why did Carter tank in the West in 1976? Post by: rbt48 on August 03, 2009, 03:18:12 PM The Carter campaign threw in the towel and pulled its ads in CA when polls showed him lagging badly (as best I can recall from 1976). I think Ford's debate gaffe about Poland caused Carter's resurgence in CA, but all pre-election prognostications still had Ford carrying the state.
One can argue that the most effective Carter strategy was getting McCarthy ruled off the ballot in NY. Had that legal maneuver failed, and had McCarthy done as well in NY as he did in MA, Ford might have prevailed in NY and won the election. 1976 Presidential Vote Jimmy Carter Gerald Ford Eugene McCarthy Electoral Vote State Democrat % Republican % Independent % D R Alabama 659,170 55.73 504,070 42.61 99 0.01 9 Alaska 44,058 35.65 71,555 57.90 0 0.00 3 Arizona 295,602 39.80 418,642 56.37 19,229 2.59 6 Arkansas 498,604 64.96 267,903 34.90 639 0.08 6 California 3,742,284 47.57 3,882,244 49.35 58,412 0.74 45 Colorado 460,353 42.56 584,367 54.03 26,107 2.41 7 Connecticut 647,895 46.90 719,261 52.06 3,759 0.27 8 Delaware 122,596 51.98 109,831 46.57 2,437 1.03 3 D of C 137,818 81.63 27,873 16.51 0 0.00 3 Florida 1,636,000 51.93 1,469,531 46.64 23,643 0.75 17 Georgia 979,409 66.74 483,743 32.96 991 0.07 12 Hawaii 147,375 50.59 140,003 48.06 0 0.00 4 Idaho 126,549 36.78 204,151 59.33 1,194 0.35 4 Illinois 2,271,295 48.13 2,364,269 50.10 55,939 1.19 26 Indiana 1,014,714 45.70 1,183,958 53.32 0 0.00 13 Iowa 619,931 48.46 632,863 49.47 20,051 1.57 8 Kansas 430,421 44.94 502,752 52.49 13,185 1.38 7 Kentucky 615,717 52.75 531,852 45.57 6,837 0.59 9 Louisiana 661,365 51.73 587,446 45.95 6,588 0.52 10 Maine 232,279 48.07 236,320 48.91 10,874 2.25 4 Maryland 759,612 52.75 672,661 46.72 4,541 0.32 10 Massachusetts 1,429,475 56.11 1,030,276 40.44 65,637 2.58 14 Michigan 1,696,714 46.44 1,893,742 51.83 47,905 1.31 21 Minnesota 1,070,440 54.90 819,395 42.02 35,490 1.82 10 Mississippi 381,309 49.56 366,846 47.68 4,074 0.53 7 Missouri 998,387 51.10 927,443 47.47 24,029 1.23 12 Montana 149,259 45.40 173,703 52.84 0 0.00 4 Nebraska 233,692 38.46 359,705 59.19 9,409 1.55 5 Nevada 92,479 45.81 101,273 50.17 0 0.00 3 New Hampshire 147,635 43.47 185,935 54.75 4,095 1.21 4 New Jersey 1,444,653 47.92 1,509,688 50.08 32,717 1.09 17 New Mexico 201,148 48.07 211,419 50.53 1,161 0.28 4 New York 3,389,558 51.87 3,100,791 47.46 4,303 0.07 41 North Carolina 927,365 55.24 741,960 44.19 780 0.05 13 North Dakota 136,078 45.79 153,470 51.64 2,952 0.99 3 Ohio 2,011,621 48.92 2,000,505 48.65 58,258 1.42 25 Oklahoma 532,442 48.75 545,708 49.96 14,101 1.29 8 Oregon 490,407 47.62 492,120 47.78 40,207 3.90 6 Pennsylvania 2,328,677 50.40 2,205,604 47.73 50,584 1.09 27 Rhode Island 227,636 55.36 181,249 44.08 479 0.12 4 South Carolina 450,807 56.17 346,149 43.13 289 0.04 8 South Dakota 147,068 48.91 151,505 50.39 0 0.00 4 Tennessee 825,879 55.94 633,969 42.94 5,004 0.34 10 Texas 2,082,319 51.14 1,953,300 47.97 20,118 0.49 26 Utah 182,110 33.65 337,908 62.44 3,907 0.72 4 Vermont 80,954 43.11 102,085 54.37 4,001 2.13 3 Virginia 813,896 47.96 836,554 49.29 0 0.00 12 Washington 717,323 46.11 777,732 50.00 36,986 2.38 8 West Virginia 435,914 58.05 314,760 41.91 113 0.02 6 Wisconsin 1,040,232 49.44 1,004,987 47.76 34,943 1.66 11 Wyoming 62,239 39.81 92,717 59.30 624 0.40 3 Total 40,830,763 50.06 39,147,793 48.00 756,691 0.93 297 240 Title: Re: Why did Carter tank in the West in 1976? Post by: JoeyJoeJoe on August 04, 2009, 07:24:16 PM Wrong. California only trended GOP in 1980 because of home state effect, and then West coast heavily trended dem during all the period. [/quote] I was referring to the mountain west, not the west coast. Republicans also did well on the west coast in 1980 because the election was called for Reagan before polls closed in CA, OR, and WA. Title: Re: Why did Carter tank in the West in 1976? Post by: Liberalrocks on November 29, 2010, 12:04:30 AM As I read it the Ford campaign heavily targeted the West. Fords son was in the rodeo and campaigned for his father in states like Arizona, Nevada, Montana, Idaho, Washington etc. Betty Ford was sent to California on her own and was quite popular nationwide. This in addition to the entire west tending to favor the GOP in those days. Fords target to victory was the midwest and west while Carter targeted the East and South. Thus we see a tight electoral college and popular vote.
Title: Re: Why did Carter tank in the West in 1976? Post by: Fuzzybigfoot on November 29, 2010, 12:47:48 AM As I read it the Ford campaign heavily targeted the West. Fords son was in the rodeo and campaigned for his father in states like Arizona, Nevada, Montana, Idaho, Washington etc. Betty Ford was sent to California on her own and was quite popular nationwide. This in addition to the entire west tending to favor the GOP in those days. Fords target to victory was the midwest and west while Carter targeted the East and South. Thus we see a tight electoral college and popular vote. His son campaigned for him in Idaho and Arizona? Those were safe for the GOP. Title: Re: Why did Carter tank in the West in 1976? Post by: Liberalrocks on November 29, 2010, 12:52:53 AM I read old articles stating that he made a western swing which included safe and more vulnerable states at the time. The Ford campaign focused on the west and despite losing the national race it appeared to pay off in that region.
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