Talk Elections

Ford in Blue
Reagan in Red

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And the Mississippi result was due to Reagan picking Richard Schweiker as his VP candidate.

Interesting, but I wonder why Schweiker (of Pennsylvania) caused Mississippi to go for Ford instead of Reagan?

I can't remember the details, but it some type of backroom political deal made at the convention.  President Ford described it in his memoirs, which I read years ago and no longer have, otherwise I would look it up.

Schweiker was a liberal Republican from Pennsylvania, and Reagan picking him alienated Conservatives, who in a well-thought-out scheme decided to switch to Ford at the convention

Mass and Michigan were less pro Frod than Ohio and PA?

MA: 28-15 Ford
MI: 55-29 Ford

OH: 91-6 Ford
PA: 93-10 Ford

The head of the Mississippi delegation clarke Reed had promised to deliver for Reagan but switched at the last moment because of a convention rule called 16-C which allowed Reagan to pick Schweiker.
Dick Cheney had a role in it too.

Interestingly, this map looks much more similar to the 2004 result than the 1976 General Election.

Huh?

Well, except for CA, WA, ND, KS, MS, FL, IA, OH, WV, and KY, yes.

Ford won the NE at the convention...but the West in the General. :)

True, in a way.  Ford was stronger in areas where Republicans are weaker.  It was a sign that he had problems with the Republican base, which Reagan exploited in his challenge to Ford for the nomination.  These problems with the base hurt him in the general election, especially since Carter passed himself off as a moderate, and some disgruntled Republicans viewed him as an acceptable alternative.

Where did you get this map?

So it really was up to Mississippi in the end? If they had gone the other way, Reagan would have been our nominee?

What makes you say that?

I remember seeing a special by Chris Matthews saying something about that and I guess since that Mississippi was noted here it determined the outcome.

I'm not sure how many votes the Mississippi delegation had, but Ford's margin of victory was only 117 votes.  Perhaps if Reagan had picked a more mainstream running mate instead of the liberal Schweiker, he probably could have pulled it off.  Schweiker didn't help him at all in the Northeast anyway, which is the only place where he would have helped.

Here's a site which provides a lot of details.

http://www.humaneventsonline.com/article.php?id=6661

Another point:

Of the states where Reagan received a majority of the delegate vote, in all except Washington he did better (as a percentage of the vote) against Carter in 1980 that Furd did in 1976.

On the other hand, of the states where Furd received a majority of the delegates, in a majority of the states Reagan did better (as a percentage of the vote) against Carter in 1980 than Ford did in 1976.

Here is a comparison:

Ford                              Reagan

Alaska                           Delaware
Connecticut                   Florida
District of Columbia       Iowa
Hawaii                           Kansas
Illinois                            Kentucky
Maine                            Massachusetts
Maryland                       Minnesota
Michigan                        Mississippi
New York                       New Jersey
Oregon                          New Hampshire
Rhode Island                 North Dakota
Vermont                        Ohio
                                     Pennsylvania
                                     West Virginia
                                     Wisconsin

Anybody feel like producing results from a 1976 Reagan/Carter election? How would the South have voted?

They have a history of supporting horrible choices, except for Clinton maybe.