Neither, how about 1964?
- Trump and Goldwater had little support within their own parties.
- LBJ and Hillary portrayed their opponents as dangerous extremists.
- Both Trump and Goldwater were accused of wanting to start dangerous nuclear wars.
- LBJ's running mate Humphrey is from Minnesota; Hillary's running mate Tim Kaine was born in Minnesota.
- Several newspapers that normally stayed neutral endorsed LBJ and Hillary because of who their opponents were.
- Psychologists said Trump and Goldwater were "unfit" for office.
Only difference, LBJ won in a landslide, Trump narrowly won his election.
There are a few odd similarities. However, these races are actually quite different.
*Johnson had the Great Society (much of which he had already passed) while Clinton borrowed bits of Sanders platform unconvincingly.
*Goldwater was the most right-wing nominee since at least Coolidge. Trump, if anything, was slightly left of several of his preceding Republican candidates in rhetoric.
*Johnson maintained and increased the white working-class Democratic vote outside Jim Crow territory (more than even FDR, in fact). Clinton was possibly the worst Democrat for this subset since McGovern.
*LBJ broke into heavily Republican areas across the board - rural, suburban, and urban. Clinton gained a couple points in a few suburbs but otherwise was wiped out of Republican strongholds.
*LBJ's ads attacked Goldwater's policy positions but never commented on his personality. Clinton almost exclusively attacked Trump's personality and implied that alone disqualified him.
*The public was largely optimistic about the future of the nation in 1964. 2016 was possibly the nation's most pessimistic year since the Depression.
*LBJ managed to carried most of the South despite signing civil rights legislation. By contrast racial issues were a major part of Clinton's defeat and she lost every Southern state.
*Goldwater was a Senator. Trump was a real estate billionaire turned TV star.
Poll
