Henry A. Wallace vs Strom Thurmond in the 1948 General Election

[Wikipedia delenda est]

In this very unlikely scenario, President Henry Wallace defeats Governor Strom Thurmond in a massive landslide in which Thurmond fails to win a single state outside of the South.

President Henry Wallace: 393 Electoral Votes
Governor Strom Thurmond: 138 Electoral Votes

I don't see why the Plains states or Indiana would be more receptive to Thurmond than any other states.

Indiana was a Klan stronghold in the earliest 20th century—even today, there are areas of southern and central Indiana that are so viscerally southern as to shock my friends who grew up in Kentucky.

Regardless, I doubt Wallace—who had ties to the CPUSA and whose sympathies for the Soviet Union made him, in the eyes of many Democrats, practically a foreign agent—would win by anything approaching this margin. If anything, Thurmond would have the advantage.

This wasn't meant to be a realistic prediction map, hence the reason why I included the phrase "very unlikely scenario." This was just a fictional fantasy of mine. In reality, I definitely think that the election would be much closer than this. If we're being realistic, here's my actual map:

President Henry Wallace: 267 Electoral Votes
Governor Strom Thurmond: 264 Electoral Votes

Wallace wins in a very, very close election, finishing just 1 electoral vote above the margin required for victory. He does best in the Northeast, where voters are horrified by Thurmond's southern racism, and in big cities, where urban workers turn out in massive numbers and vote for Wallace by massive margins. Thurmond does best in the South, for obvious reasons, and in parts of the Midwest and West for virulently attacking Wallace on the issue of communism. In other parts of the Midwest and West, though, Wallace is propelled to victory by populist voters. The closest state in the election is Illinois, where Wallace is thrashed in most counties except for Cook, where massive turnout by urban workers gives him a bare majority in the state. In being elected President in his own right, Wallace becomes the first President elected since Woodrow Wilson without winning his home state, Iowa.

[Wikipedia delenda est]

In this very unlikely scenario, President Henry Wallace defeats Governor Strom Thurmond in a massive landslide in which Thurmond fails to win a single state outside of the South.

President Henry Wallace: 393 Electoral Votes
Governor Strom Thurmond: 138 Electoral Votes

I don't see why the Plains states or Indiana would be more receptive to Thurmond than any other states.

Indiana was a Klan stronghold in the earliest 20th century—even today, there are areas of southern and central Indiana that are so viscerally southern as to shock my friends who grew up in Kentucky.

Regardless, I doubt Wallace—who had ties to the CPUSA and whose sympathies for the Soviet Union made him, in the eyes of many Democrats, practically a foreign agent—would win by anything approaching this margin. If anything, Thurmond would have the advantage.

This wasn't meant to be a realistic prediction map, hence the reason why I included the phrase "very unlikely scenario." This was just a fictional fantasy of mine. In reality, I definitely think that the election would be much closer than this. If we're being realistic, here's my actual map:

President Henry Wallace: 267 Electoral Votes
Governor Strom Thurmond: 264 Electoral Votes

Wallace wins in a very, very close election, finishing just 1 electoral vote above the margin required for victory. He does best in the Northeast, where voters are horrified by Thurmond's southern racism, and in big cities, where urban workers turn out in massive numbers and vote for Wallace by massive margins. Thurmond does best in the South, for obvious reasons, and in parts of the Midwest and West for virulently attacking Wallace on the issue of communism. In other parts of the Midwest and West, though, Wallace is propelled to victory by populist voters. The closest state in the election is Illinois, where Wallace is thrashed in most counties except for Cook, where massive turnout by urban workers gives him a bare majority in the state. In being elected President in his own right, Wallace becomes the first President elected since Woodrow Wilson without winning his home state, Iowa.

Actually, now that I think about it, Wallace probably would've won Iowa. He might have lost some other states I gave him though, like Illinois, Maryland, or maybe Delaware. But it's also possible that he would've won Oregon, Idaho, or West Virginia.