Henry Wallace 1948 Strength

[VPH]

I used election data to make a map of how Wallace performed.
70% shade= >5%
60%= 3.01%-5%
50%=1.51%-3%
40%=.51%-1.5%
30%=0.01%-.5%

What are your thoughts on Wallace and his campaign? How could he have done better?

[Antonio the Sixth]

Ahem...

[Türkisblau]

1. Ahead of his time. Most of his positions (ie. universal insurance, end to segregation) were seen as too radical

2. Didn't disavow Communist Party USA endorsement (lost some liberal and socialist vote, for example Norman Thomas stopped supporting him)

3. Campaigned in the South with African Americans to go against segregation and wouldn't speak in segregated venues (an amazing fight he made, though definitely not a strategy that will bring votes)

4. Wasn't explicitly against the Soviet Union (he condemned them after the election, the fact that he didn't make this his position in the election gave credence to elitist pricks like HL Mencken accusing him of being a communist, or as some even said a KGB agent)

[VPH]

Ahem...

Oops, hadn't seen that. Sorry!

[VPH]

1. Ahead of his time. Most of his positions (ie. universal insurance, end to segregation) were seen as too radical

2. Didn't disavow Communist Party USA endorsement (lost some liberal and socialist vote, for example Norman Thomas stopped supporting him)

3. Campaigned in the South with African Americans to go against segregation and wouldn't speak in segregated venues (an amazing fight he made, though definitely not a strategy that will bring votes)

4. Wasn't explicitly against the Soviet Union (he condemned them after the election, the fact that he didn't make this his position in the election gave credence to elitist pricks like HL Mencken accusing him of being a communist, or as some even said a KGB agent)

I kinda wondered why he didn't have a broad socialist coalition for him. Makes sense that by accepting the Communist endorsement, he traded off with Democratic Socialists. Dewey would have won had Wallace been much stronger.

[🐒Gods of Prosperity🔱🐲💸]

Ahem...

Oops, hadn't seen that. Sorry!

don't apologize... but IIRC there's a county map buried in a thread somewhere on this forum.

Wallace was hoping for a good deal of support from African-Americans, which for the most part did not materialize, thanks in part to the stand of Truman and Humphrey in 48 toward making the Democrats more supportive of civil rights.

[RI]

Ahem...

Oops, hadn't seen that. Sorry!

don't apologize... but IIRC there's a county map buried in a thread somewhere on this forum.

[Indy Texas]

How'd he do so well in the Tampa area?

[jaichind]

One thing that always interested me in a what if capacity is in 1948 if Wallace was on the Illinois ballot as opposed to the Illinois Electoral Board to ruling that the Progressive Party off the ballot.  Remember that in 1948 Dewey only needed IL and CA, IL, and OH to win.   IN CA and OH the margin of Dewey's defeat was only 0.44% and 0.2%.  IL was a bigger 0.85%.  But if Wallace was allowed to be on the ballot in IL I am pretty sure he would have taken at least 2% of the vote which would have by a large margin been from the Truman vote giving the state to Dewey.  So if Wallace had been on the IL ballot the the swing needed by Dewey to win would have been something like 0.25% to overcome the Truman leads in CA and OH.  Of course the decision of the Illinois Electoral Board  was a feature not a bug.

[jaichind]

How'd he do so well in the Tampa area?

If I had to guess it is the Jewish vote.  Jews swung against Truman in 1948 over unhappiness with the Truman administration policy toward Israel.  Tampa even in the 1920s and 1930s had a large Jewish community.  In NYC it was clear that the Jewish vote cost Truman the election in NY state when they went over to Wallace in large numbers. 

[TDAS04]

Wallace got more of the Jewish vote than Dewey (it was 75% Truman, 15% Wallace, and 10% Dewey.)

[Hnv1]

1. Ahead of his time. Most of his positions (ie. universal insurance, end to segregation) were seen as too radical

2. Didn't disavow Communist Party USA endorsement (lost some liberal and socialist vote, for example Norman Thomas stopped supporting him)

3. Campaigned in the South with African Americans to go against segregation and wouldn't speak in segregated venues (an amazing fight he made, though definitely not a strategy that will bring votes)

4. Wasn't explicitly against the Soviet Union (he condemned them after the election, the fact that he didn't make this his position in the election gave credence to elitist pricks like HL Mencken accusing him of being a communist, or as some even said a KGB agent)

Well as I recall reading a memoir by an Israeli\Jewish agency foreign diplomat in meetings with the deputy foreign minister of the USSR in 48 they asked the agency to weight in their support in American Jewish communities for Wallace to get the USSR supportive of the UN resolution in Palestine. I wouldn't go as far as claiming he was a KGB agent but it's possible there were some cooperation there

[VPH]

Ahem...

Oops, hadn't seen that. Sorry!

don't apologize... but IIRC there's a county map buried in a thread somewhere on this forum.

This is impressive. Good old Crawford County Kansas looks like it still had some leftist sentiment left over. I remember Debs won that county once. He lived there and a socialist newspaper was published there. I wish it still was the leftist capital of Kansas...