Carter 80 - Reagan 84 - Dukakis 88 counties

[mianfei]

• Cherokee, AL
• Marengo, AL
• Walker, AL
• Ashley, AR
• Bradley, AR
• Clay, AR
• Lawrence, AR
• Little River, AR
• Monroe, AR
• Nevada, AR
• Poinsett, AR
• Randolph, AR
• St. Francis, AR
• Hartford, CT
• Clarke, GA
• De Kalb, GA
• Pulaski, GA
• Randolph, GA
• Hawaii, HI
• Kauai, HI
• Maui, HI
• Perry, IN
• Bath, KY
• Boyd, KY
• Carlisle, KY
• Carroll, KY (Reagan was first Republican to ever win this county)
• Gallatin, KY (tied between Reagan and Mondale)
• Graves, KY
• Greenup, KY
• Henderson, KY
• Henry, KY
• Hickman, KY
• McCracken, KY
• McLean, KY
• Marion, KY
• Owen, KY
• Robertson, KY
• Trimble, KY
• Ascension Parish, LA
• Assumption Parish, LA
• Bienville Parish, LA
• Calcasieu Parish, LA
• Cameron Parish, LA
• De Soto Parish, LA
• East Feliciana Parish, LA
• Jefferson Davis Parish, LA
• Saint John the Baptist Parish, LA
• Saint Landry Parish, LA
• Saint Martin Parish, LA
• Berkshire, MA
• Hampden, MA
• Alger, MI
• Delta, MI
• Genesee, MI
• Lake, MI
• Marquette, MI
• Washtenaw, MI
• Clearwater, MN
• Dakota, MN
• Kanabec, MN
• Mille Lacs, MN
• Washington, MN
• Benton, MS
• Clay, MS
• Issaquena, MS
• Jefferson Davis, MS
• Sunflower, MS
• Tallahatchie, MS
• Boone, MO
• Buchanan, MO
• Dunklin, MO
• Howard, MO
• Monroe, MO (Reagan was first Republican to ever win this county)
• New Madrid, MO
• Pemiscot, MO
• Ralls, MO
• Ray, MO
• Sainte Genevieve, MO
• Shannon, MO
• Niagara, NY
• Chatham, NC
• Columbus, NC
• Duplin, NC
• Granville, NC
• Greene, NC
• Jones, NC
• Martin, NC
• Scotland, NC
• Swain, NC
• Athens, OH
• Summit, OH
• Atoka, OK
• Bryan, OK
• Choctaw, OK
• Harmon, OK
• Jefferson, OK
• Johnston, OK
• Latimer, OK
• Love, OK
• McCurtain, OK
• McIntosh, OK
• Marshall, OK
• Okfuskee, OK
• Okmulgee, OK
• Pittsburg, OK
• Pushmataha, OK
• Tillamook, OR
• Lackawanna, PA
• Bristol, RI
• Kent, RI
• Bamberg, SC
• Giles, TN
• Lewis, TN
• Bastrop, TX
• Baylor, TX
• Burleson, TX
• Caldwell, TX
• Cameron, TX
• Camp, TX
• Case, TX
• Comanche, TX
• Concho, TX
• Crosby, TX
• Delta, TX
• Falls, TX
• Fannin, TX
• Hardeman, TX
• Hardin, TX
• Haskell, TX
• Jasper, TX
• Kent, TX
• Kleberg, TX
• Knox, TX
• Limestone, TX
• McCulloch, TX
• Marion, TX
• Milam, TX
• Montague, TX
• Navarro, TX
• Nolan, TX
• Nieces, TX
• Polk, TX
• Rains, TX
• Red River, TX
• Sabine, TX
• San Augustine, TX
• San Jacinto, TX
• San Patricio, TX
• San Saba, TX
• Shelby, TX
• Throckmorton, TX
• Titus, TX
• Travis, TX
• Trinity, TX
• Tyler, TX
• Waller, TX
• Chittenden, VT
• Grand Isle, VT
• Caroline County, VA
• Greensvilel County, VA
• Lee County, VA
• Wise County, VA
• Franklin City, VA
• Roanoke City, VA
• Barbour, WV
• Calhoun, WV
• Gilmer, WV
• Greenbrier, WV
• Harrison, WV
• Kanawha, WV
• Marshall, WV
• Nicholas, WV
• Pocahontas, WV
• Raleigh, WV
• Summers, WV
• Taylor, WV
• Tucker, WV
• Wayne, WV
• Wetzel, WV
• Burnett, WI
• Dunn, WI
• Eau Claire, WI
• Iowa, WI
• Pierce, WI
• Polk, WI
• Saint Croix, WI

[mianfei]

Actually, “Fuzzy Bear”, even in those states that are relatively less Republican than in 1988, there have been huge swings to the GOP in all white rural areas – even in those traditionally Republican due to Unionist loyalties from the Civil War. In 2016, Hilary’s best white rural county in the South (“South” is taken as the Confederacy, Oklahoma, Missouri, Kentucky and West Virginia) was Carroll County, KY – mentioned above as having even voted for George McGovern due to its historic secessionist Democratic loyalties – but even that county gave her a mere 28 percent of its ballots.

This is certainly due to the greater centrality of social issues among rural whites than in the 1980s – when the factors driving whites to vote for Reagan and Bush Senior were much more concentrated in suburban areas and influenced by the twin issues of economic conservatism and crime. Large parts of the rural white South had escaped most of the increasing violent crime of the 1970s and 1980s, were not entirely supportive of Reagan’s tax cuts, and were hit by major farm problems during an extensive drought affecting most of the US outside the Northeast between 1984 and 1988. Louisiana was also hit by low oil prices, which Dukakis promised to remedy.

In contrast, since the middle 1990s the rural white South has been preoccupied with what they view as the moral degeneracy of urban and even suburban America – homosexual rights, abortion (with the Cajun Catholics no doubt all artificial contraception), atheism, punitive environmental regulation, violence in music and films, and government aid to urban minorities. This was how Bush Junior managed to win the 2000 election – although he was when one considers the likely preferences of third-party voters outpolled by a wider margin than was Trump – and how counties in Cajun Louisiana and coal country have gone from supporting Dukakis by substantial margins to voting around 87 percent for Trump.