Electoral Map 1996-2000

[NNguyenMD]

Bill Clinton left office in 2000 with one of the highest approval ratings for an exiting president. Yet the electoral map in 2000 shows that Missouri, Ohio, Lousiana, Arkansas, Tennessee, West Virginia, Kentucky all went from blue to red in 2000.

Lewinsky scandal aside, Clinton was still very popular and yet the chimp turned over all of these states. What best explains such a huge exodus of states that went from blue to red? Rise of the Christian right? Karl Rove's ruthless campaign? Al Gore won the popular vote, but lost a ton of ground in the south and Midwest compared to the 1996 and 1992 map.

What kind of map can we expect for 2016 granted Obama wins 2012. Will states like Nevada, Colorado, Ohio, Florida, Virginia fall firmly back into the red column for the following 8 years?

[Art_from_Ark]

1. Arkansas went for Clinton twice because he had been the state's governor

Arkansas went for Carter once because he had been a Southern governor.

But since 1968, with those three exceptions, you can count on Arkansas to vote for the worst candidate (including Wallace in 1968).

[davidpdx]

2. You forgot Indiana and North Carolina both solid red states

for the last 30+ years (except for NC went for Carter in 76').

I think Indiana and NC will go back to being red. Nevada, Colorado, Ohio, and Virginia will remain blue. Florida I have no idea.

I don't think there is going to be a huge shift this time. In 2016 the map may shift more, so who knows.

[davidn3600]

3. Florida and Ohio are likely to continue to swing in 2016

Florida especially. Nothing is really changing there to indicate that it's staying blue. The state government is red, red, red. The swing seems to be concentrated in the I-4 region in the center of the state. Bush did well there in 2000 and 2004. Obama did very well there in 2008. But Obama is not as hot there now. And usually when you are losing this area of the state, its a bad sign.

Virginia I think is more of a swing.