Why did Dukakis perform so well in Wisconsin?

[Matty]

I understand that there was a farm crisis, but Wisconsin is not as farm dependent a state as say Iowa or Montana.

Why did he win it by a relatively comfortable margin?

[MIKESOWELL]

My guess is the late 1980s farm crisis and Democrat Herbert Kohl helping Dukakis a bit in that Senate race.

[SingingAnalyst]

WI and to a greater extent MN have a progressive tradition. Dukakis' improvement over Mondale's percentage (Mondale, despite losing WI, did relatively well there) was on par with the national trend.

I'm more curious why Clinton's percentage in WI dropped so much in 1992 compared with Dukakis' (from 51% to 41%).

[Tekken_Guy]

WI and to a greater extent MN have a progressive tradition. Dukakis' improvement over Mondale's percentage (Mondale, despite losing WI, did relatively well there) was on par with the national trend.

I'm more curious why Clinton's percentage in WI dropped so much in 1992 compared with Dukakis' (from 51% to 41%).

Perot.

[Frozen Sky Ever Why]

WI and to a greater extent MN have a progressive tradition. Dukakis' improvement over Mondale's percentage (Mondale, despite losing WI, did relatively well there) was on par with the national trend.

I'm more curious why Clinton's percentage in WI dropped so much in 1992 compared with Dukakis' (from 51% to 41%).

Perot.

Yes. Clinton and the DNC's embrace of neoliberalism opened the door for Mondale/Dukakis voters in the Midwest to flee to anti-NAFTA Perot.

[sg0508]

The Populist image, which fit well with blue collar workers, especially amidst the farm crisis.

[darklordoftech]

The Populist image, which fit well with blue collar workers, especially amidst the farm crisis.

Dukakis had a populist image?

[Obama-Biden Democrat]

The Populist image, which fit well with blue collar workers, especially amidst the farm crisis.

Dukakis had a populist image?

Dukakis did very well for a Democrat in rural America, but was blown out of the water in suburban America. Typically rural areas like populism and suburbs not so much, see 2016.

[Hydera]

Along with the farm crisis that still affected the midwest. Dukakis gained among blue collar workers mainly in rural areas that supported Reagan strongly due to a dropoff from the 1984 landslide and a switch to the Democrats. My guess is that there was fatigue over Reagan's policies especially didnt feel that they benefited from the 1980s economic boom compared to Suburban areas despite the same areas voting for Reagan because of his appeal to social conservatism back in 1984.

[Sumner 1868]

Interesting turnout results in Waukesha County:


1984
Mondale: 47,313
Reagan: 92,426

1988
Dukakis: 57,598
Bush: 90,467

Guess Democrats were just more likely to vote when it wasn't an obvious GOP landslide.