Arizona

[they don't love you like i love you]

prior to the 50's, Arizona was a Democrat state. It voted Republican in the 20s but by less than the national average of those 3 landslide elections. It then voted for FDR in a landslide all 4 times and for Truman by a comfortable margin.

But then in the 50s, it voted for Eisenhower twice by a larger margin than the national average, and continued to vote Republican in every election until 1996. What caused it to flip from a Dem to a Republican stronghold almost overnight?

[PBrunsel]

Simple, Barry Goldwater beat Senate Majority Leader Ernest MacFarland.

[True Democrat]

A lot of western states, such as Montana and Utah, switched from Democrat to Republican from the 48-52 elections by big margins.  I think they were just tired of Democrat's controlling the White House for 20 years.  Also, Harry Truman was hated in his second term, probably cause hate for the Democratic party.  These western states were probably also angered the Democrat party was moving towards the left with Stevenson.

[dazzleman]

The western states are socially conservative and individualistic.

Back in the 1940s, the Republicans were actually more socially liberal, because most Catholics at that time were staunch Democrats, and the church exerted much more control over its congregation then than it does now.

As the Democratic party became more identified with social liberalism in the 1960s, those states became more firmly Republican.

[jimrtex]

Many western states had a strong mining element.  In addition, what agriculture developed was mainly cotton.  Folks from Iowa know how to grow corn, not cotton.

The population of Arizona increased by 50% between 1940 and 1950 as retirees from the MW moved there for the weather, and then when other people moved to Phoenix, there was enough upward mobility that you don't think you are stuck in the lowest rung forever, with only the Government to ameliorate your life a bit.

[Schmitz in 1972]

My question is what caused it to vote Democratic in 1996. I know it wasn't a big year for Republicans, but Colorado (which voted for Clinton in '92 and was seriously contested this year) voted for Dole.

[Redefeatbush04]

The politics of the political parties changed more than the politics of the states. Vermont + Massachusetts used to be solid republican states. South Carolina was 98% democratic in the 40's. Civil rights was one of the main reasons for the flip.

[A18]

The politics of the political parties changed more than the politics of the states. Vermont + Massachusetts used to be solid republican states. South Carolina was 98% democratic in the 40's. Civil rights was one of the main reasons for the flip.

Republicans passed basically every Civil Rights Act.

[True Democrat]

The politics of the political parties changed more than the politics of the states. Vermont + Massachusetts used to be solid republican states. South Carolina was 98% democratic in the 40's. Civil rights was one of the main reasons for the flip.

Republicans passed basically every Civil Rights Act.

But they didn't propose the the laws.

[A18]

President Lyndon Johnson had to rely on Everett Dirkson, the Republican leader from Illinois, to get the Civil Rights Act passed, just like Clinton had to rely on Republicans to get NAFTA passed.

It was the Democrats back in 1964 who were at war with themselves and conflicted over civil rights.

[True Democrat]

President Lyndon Johnson had to rely on Everett Dirkson, the Republican leader from Illinois, to get the Civil Rights Act passed, just like Clinton had to rely on Republicans to get NAFTA passed.

It was the Democrats back in 1964 who were at war with themselves and conflicted over civil rights.

Yes, but the Democrats who were anti-civil rights were really Republicans.  Also, I admit some Republicans were essential to the Civil Rights movement, but without the Democrats, the civil rights movement probably wouldn't have gotten started till the mid 70s.

[they don't love you like i love you]

but all those Democrats who opposed the Civil Rights Act would be Republicans today (what party did Strom Thurmond die a member of?), and many of those Republicans would be Democrats today (Lowell Weicker and Jim Jeffords aren't Republicans anymore)

[minionofmidas]

President Lyndon Johnson had to rely on Everett Dirkson, the Republican leader from Illinois, to get the Civil Rights Act passed, just like Clinton had to rely on Republicans to get NAFTA passed.

That's something of a misrepresentation of facts actually, and quite a common one.
Thing is that Northern Dems and Moderate Reps were in favor of the bill, and were a few votes short to break the Southern Democrat filibuster in the Senate.
In the end, they dropped a few of the more far-reaching provisions and won the support of most Northern Conservative Republicans, and the votes to break the filibuster, as a result. That group included Dirksen, who played a large role in drafting the new, slightly watered-down version.

[Bogart]

Sixty percent of the vote is in Maricopa County. With the exception of central Phoenix, it's a Republican county. Why?

A massive influx of retirees. A large Mormon population. A strong military presence. Copper mining is a major industry. And, the Republican party is seen as the party of individual rights and responsiblities, two things that ring strongly with Arizonans. Ninety-six was an exception. It was Dole against Clinton.

[Storebought]

The politics of the political parties changed more than the politics of the states. Vermont + Massachusetts used to be solid republican states. South Carolina was 98% democratic in the 40's. Civil rights was one of the main reasons for the flip.

MA was a Democrat state since 1928. Vermont's change wasn't as clear-cut, but the slide to the Democratic party began during the 1950s.

And how many times will the lie that the Civil Rights movement caused the South to vote GOP be repeated?? In 1948, the South went with the Dixiecrats; in the '50s and '60s, they voted for "Unpledged Democrat Electors." The only GOP vote was Goldwater in '64, then the next election they went with Wallace. Discounting Nixon's '72 win, the South single-handedly elected Jimmy Carter, a Democrat.

If anything, the South tried every conceivable mean to avoid voting Republican in 40 years.

[Gustaf]

I don't get what you're saying Storebought...they were used to voting for Democrats so they voted for Democrats that agreed with segregation for as long as they could. In 1976 they voted for a Southerner over a Northern patrician. But they did slide towards the GOP based on racial issues, that's commonly known.

[Hitchabrut]

yeah really, how did you come up with that

[minionofmidas]

The politics of the political parties changed more than the politics of the states. Vermont + Massachusetts used to be solid republican states. South Carolina was 98% democratic in the 40's. Civil rights was one of the main reasons for the flip.

MA was a Democrat state since 1928. Vermont's change wasn't as clear-cut, but the slide to the Democratic party began during the 1950s.

And how many times will the lie that the Civil Rights movement caused the South to vote GOP be repeated?? In 1948, the South went with the Dixiecrats; in the '50s and '60s, they voted for "Unpledged Democrat Electors." The only GOP vote was Goldwater in '64, then the next election they went with Wallace. Discounting Nixon's '72 win, the South single-handedly elected Jimmy Carter, a Democrat.

If anything, the South tried every conceivable mean to avoid voting Republican in 40 years.

Yes...but then, there's reasons for that too. And they did not vote for "unpledged Democrat Electors in the '50s and '60s" - there were such slates, especially in Alabama, but mostly they split between those staying true to the Democrats and those voting Republican.