Biggest state surprises of the 1992 election

[Heimdal]

The biggest surprise in my opinion was New England (not a single state, but still). The only Election where the Democrats had won all the states of New England was Johnsons landslide victory in 1964. Bush did a lot better than Goldwater, but he still lost every single state in New England and the Northeast in general to Clinton. Even when Ford lost the General Election in 1976 he won several of these states.

[Heimdal]

The biggest surprise in my opinion was New England (not a single state, but still). The only Election where the Democrats had won all the states of New England was Johnsons landslide victory in 1964. Bush did a lot better than Goldwater, but he still lost every single state in New England and the Northeast in general to Clinton. Even when Ford lost the General Election in 1976 he won several of these states.

Bush was desperate in 1992 and made his campaign all about the "culture wars" (ugh) which probably handed him several southern states but alienated him in New England and the northeast. I think 1992 was the final straw for yankee Republicans.

I don't know enough about the 1992 campaign, but I thought Pat Buchanan was the person who introduced "culture war" to the election of 1992?

[Heimdal]

If there is such a thing as realigning elections then 1992 is such an election. In this election Clinton won a swathe of states that the Democrats have won ever since. It is California, Michigan, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Delaware, Connecticut, Vermont, Illinois, Maine and Wisconsin. The Obama coalition is basically just a new version of the Clinton coalition that relies more on upscale suburbanites and minorities, and less on rural southerners.

It is besides the topic of this thread, but I would also argue that 1952 is more of a realigning election than 1968. In this election Eisenhower won a lot of the same states that would form the basis of Nixon’s and Reagan’s electoral coalitions.