Challenge: Describe a Dukakis 88/Bush 92 voter

[Frozen Sky Ever Why]

There must have been some, right?

[CountryClassSF]

I can describe one: my grandmother!

She was an old school Democrat.  Went with Dukakis in 88 - but voted for Bush in 92 because of the Gennifer Flowers situation, and because she thought he ended up being a good president.

(She went on to vote for Clinton in 96).

[TTS1996]

There must have been some, right?

Some western Iowa farmers?

["'Oeps!' De blunders van Rick Perry Indicted"]

Greek.

[Antonio the Sixth]

Most likely a farmer from central Iowa.

[Oregreen]

Some Iowans, Texans and Wisconsinites (especially some farmers and Llyod Bentsen fans). I guess there were also plenty of people who didn't like Slick Willie's slimy character. Including me. I would have voted for Dukakis in 88 but definitely not for Clinton.

[Boston Bread]

There are people changing beliefs/party loyalties all the time. I think most of these voters would fit in that group.

I would imagine a 1968 Wallace/1972 McGovern voter would be much more of a challenge.

[TheElectoralBoobyPrize]

There are people changing beliefs/party loyalties all the time. I think most of these voters would fit in that group.

I would imagine a 1968 Wallace/1972 McGovern voter would be much more of a challenge.

Maybe some yellow dog Democrats in the South who were willing to bolt the national party (after all, Wallace was still a Democrat...) but just couldn't bring themselves to vote Republican?

Admittedly, there wouldn't be too many...given how badly McGovern lost the South.

[SPC]

There are people changing beliefs/party loyalties all the time. I think most of these voters would fit in that group.

I would imagine a 1968 Wallace/1972 McGovern voter would be much more of a challenge.

At least three counties in Alabama fit that description.

[Boston Bread]

Those Alabama counties were in all likelihood not the result of voters changing their choice but new black voters who had not yet gotten used to being able to vote. They were disenfranchised before the CRA after all.
I bet there are quite a few Dukakis/Bush counties in the plains/rural midwest.

[Libertarian Socialist Dem]

Greek.

Nikolas Stephonapolis, 1921-1996: A Greek-American veteran of World War II was the owner of Nik's Diner in Wooster, MA. A lifelong Republican he voted for Michael Dukukis who visited his diner while campaigning on several occasions for governor and voted for him out of ethnic pride in 88, the only time in his life he voted for a Democrat for President.

[Libertarian Socialist Dem]

There are people changing beliefs/party loyalties all the time. I think most of these voters would fit in that group.

I would imagine a 1968 Wallace/1972 McGovern voter would be much more of a challenge.

Maybe some yellow dog Democrats in the South who were willing to bolt the national party (after all, Wallace was still a Democrat...) but just couldn't bring themselves to vote Republican?

Admittedly, there wouldn't be too many...given how badly McGovern lost the South.

Maybe some guy who grew up in a southern family and voted for Wallace, before going to Vietnam, returning and becoming an anti-war hippie as a result.

[Boston Bread]

ssuperflash, I was talking about 1968/1972. Sorry for getting off topic though.

[Libertarian Socialist Dem]

Those Alabama counties were in all likelihood not the result of voters changing their choice but new black voters who had not yet gotten used to being able to vote.

This was 33 years after the Voting Rights Act. Junk explanation.

You mean 3 years, and I don't think it's outside the realm of explanation that it might have taken some time for a lot of black voters to all get registered. There still could have been hidden informal suppression efforts going on the local level that went unreported at first. After all, in general it was the same white southerners still running voter registration.

[Intell]

A Rural, Mid-Western Farmer that had been effected by the Farm Crisis.

Iowa was a state where Dukakis '88, did better than Clinton '92.

[Libertarian Socialist Dem]

A Rural, Mid-Western Farmer that had been effected by the Farm Crisis.

Iowa was a state where Dukakis '88, did better than Clinton '92.

Perot probably got the bulk of those votes though.

[Libertarian Socialist Dem]

What I think is interesting in the other direction is a Ford 76/Carter 80 voter. I know of someone who voted for Ford because they were scarred that Carter was a theocrat but then voted for Carter because they were terrified of Reagan. I bet that for more people it was the other way around and probably a lot of the baby boomer evangelicals were Carter 76/Reagen 80.

["'Oeps!' De blunders van Rick Perry Indicted"]

George McGovern was a Ford '76/Carter '80 voter.

[Libertarian Socialist Dem]

George McGovern was a Ford '76/Carter '80 voter.

Did he admit it? Wouldn't surprise me that there would be bad blood between them.

[Libertarian Socialist Dem]

Oh wow, he did

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=364x3031168

[Intell]

I heard somewhere, that Carter was a, Wallace '68, Nixon '72 voter.

[Oldiesfreak1854]

My mother.

[Mr. Smith]

Someone who wanted someone who appeared more honest, earnest, and principled, while not coming off as nasty.

Bush '88 was the pioneer of negativity and slander as we now know it, while Dukakis weakly but with conviction defended himself. Both seemed dignified though

Bush '92 appeared to be the most earnest against Clinton with his easy answers, and sleazy demeanor.

Someone that judges that stuff will definitely prefer Dukakis over Clinton.

So pretty much a moralist of some kind.

[IceSpear]

Someone who overhauled their entire ideology from 1989-1991. It happens all the time with Atlas posters.

[Obnoxiously Slutty Girly Girl]

Bush governed relatively moderately despite the lip service he gave to the far right (read his lips, no new taxes), raised taxes, signed things like the Americans With Disabilities Act.

Clinton on the other hand, was a relative disappointment, only a Democratic president could get away with taking a sledgehammer to the welfare state and killing any New Deal legacy remaining in the Democratic Party and the national discourse.

Plus Clinton's election paved the way for the radical right-wing GOP takeover of Congress in 1994.

I could see myself voting for Dukakis in 88 and Bush in 92 in hindsight.

Besides that, there actually WERE a lot of Dukakis 88/Bush 92 voters, especially if you look at the results and the county map of Iowa, where Dukakis performed substantially better since the farm crisis pushed Midwestern farm states to embrace the Democrats over the Republicans in power, but that had faded as an issue by 1992.

To use my reversed color Wiki maps to demonstrate....



1988
Dukakis: 54.71%
Bush: 44.50%

D+10.21%



1992
Clinton: 43.29%
Bush: 37.27%
Perot: 18.71%

D+6.01%