Which election was more of realignment: 1968 or 1980?

[Sir Mohamed]

It's being debated whether 1968 or 1980 are considered realignment elections or not. Do you think both were and if so, equally or not?

I would argue that 1968 was more of a realignment than 1980, and possibly the most significant between 1932 and 2000. While the election was close, Nixon's "Southern strategy" had lasting implications and consequences for all decades to come. Carter and Clinton were at least in part able to reverse the shifts in the South, but these were short-lived and limited to certain states and only during their own elections. 1968 was also the year the New Deal coalition finally broke up. Carter and Clinton also moved closer to the political center than Johnson (the previous D-prez) was.

What are your thoughts?

[Del Tachi]

1964 and 1968 have to mostly be considered together.  Activists and elites became polarized around racial issues during the 1960s, and that trickled down to the general electorate.  New Deal issues were replaced by civil rights issues as the major political fault line, and even the term "liberalism" fell into disrepute.

[Beet]

The New Deal Coalition is kind of like the Roman Empire of American politics. When did it finally end? You can say anywhere from 1948 with Humphrey's "Sunshine of Human Rights" speech and the Dixiecrat revolt, all the way to the defeat of Mary Landrieu in 2014. But electorally, I'd agree that 1968 was more important than 1980.

[TDAS04]

1968.

[OSR stands with Israel]

Geographically : 1968

Ideologically : 1980


At the end of the day though you win power not to win future elections but to try to change the direction of the country so I voted for 1980

[Schiff for Senate]

I'm going to argue that the manifestation of the "Southern Strategy" in 1968 is actually pretty overstated. When you look at the map, none of the Deep South states voted for Nixon. Of course that was because the Wallace effect obscures it, but even so - in LA, MS, AL, Humphrey still finished ahead of Nixon. Nixon did win the Upper South but that was a region that had sorta had a Republican lean in the postwar era anyway (VA, NC and TN all voted for Nixon in 1960, too).

[TheElectoralBoobyPrize]

I'm going to argue that the manifestation of the "Southern Strategy" in 1968 is actually pretty overstated. When you look at the map, none of the Deep South states voted for Nixon. Of course that was because the Wallace effect obscures it, but even so - in LA, MS, AL, Humphrey still finished ahead of Nixon. Nixon did win the Upper South but that was a region that had sorta had a Republican lean in the postwar era anyway (VA, NC and TN all voted for Nixon in 1960, too).

He did win South Carolina, which is considered a Deep South state. Otherwise, I agree.

[Mr. Smith]

I'm going to argue that the manifestation of the "Southern Strategy" in 1968 is actually pretty overstated. When you look at the map, none of the Deep South states voted for Nixon. Of course that was because the Wallace effect obscures it, but even so - in LA, MS, AL, Humphrey still finished ahead of Nixon. Nixon did win the Upper South but that was a region that had sorta had a Republican lean in the postwar era anyway (VA, NC and TN all voted for Nixon in 1960, too).

Humphrey took in the black vote, while Wallace split the white vote with Nixon, it's very unlikely MS/AL  would still go to Humphrey after that's factored out, and Nixon still finished ahead in Georgia.

Also, Kennedy won NC.

[Pericles]

I'm going to argue that the manifestation of the "Southern Strategy" in 1968 is actually pretty overstated. When you look at the map, none of the Deep South states voted for Nixon. Of course that was because the Wallace effect obscures it, but even so - in LA, MS, AL, Humphrey still finished ahead of Nixon. Nixon did win the Upper South but that was a region that had sorta had a Republican lean in the postwar era anyway (VA, NC and TN all voted for Nixon in 1960, too).

If we're going by what the map looked like, you could make an outside case for what 1972 being a realignment. It looked so different than every Repubican landslide that had come before it, because Nixon not only swept the old Solid South but dominated there compared to the nation as a whole.