Philadelphia, 1948

[Kaine for Senate '18]

Does anyone have any idea as to why Truman did so poorly here?  He only won by 6,737 votes, or 0.76%.  It's the only time since 1932 that a Democrat won by less than 10% or received under 55% of the vote.  Why the very odd numbers for 1948?

[Verily]

Because Truman wasn't FDR, and Philadelphia was historically Republican.

[Kaine for Senate '18]

But then why the big difference between 1948 and 1952?  I'd have expected Ike to do much better than Dewey.

[Bo]

I guess that the lack of differences in the Democratic and GOP platforms caused many typically Democratic voters to vote for Dewey. Maybe the fact that Dewey (unlike Truman) was a Northeasterer also helped.