I just realized that between 1988 and 1992, 22 states flipped- all of them from Bush to Clinton. I really wish I was old enough back then to remember the election. It truly was a realignment.
Something else to think about: In 1992, an unemployment rate in the high 7's prompted a huge electoral shift. In 2012, an unemployment rate at about the same level produced a status quo election.
As was pointed out a few times during the campaign, it's not the unemployment rate that matters (politically). It's the direction unemployment is moving.
