I've often wondered this for some time. Had Barry Goldwater voted in favor of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, how would the results of that election been? Obviously, he wouldn't have gotten 87% in Mississippi or 68% in Alabama, but would have he been able to hold states like Vermont, Kansas, Nebraska and possibly even Florida and Virginia?
And how would the Deep Southern states have voted?
I really don't understand how Mississppi gave only 13% to Johnson and Alabama only 30%. There would have had to have been like no blacks voting for that to happen.
yep. Voting Rights Act wasn't passed until the following year, and even then it took a while for blacks to vote in large numbers in the South. there were sometimes obstacles to poor whites voting as well. take a look at the 64 turnout rate - in MS and AL the turnout was only half of that in the Northern states.
Voting for the CRA wouldn't help him FL or VA. It would have helped him in the Northeast and Upper Midwest, but he still had a lot going against him - an immoderate image that he did little to counter and the nation mourning JFK. I can see him winning AZ, ID and possibly NE. If there's a strong enough 3rd party candidate Goldwater doesn't win any southern states. without a 3rd party candidate Goldwater wins SC, LBJ wins LA and GA, and MS and AL go "unpledged."
What if the CRA were split into separate bills for the public accommodations/hiring portion and the rest of the bill, as was originally planned, and Goldwater voted against the former but for the latter? Seems like that would be the most advantageous way of squaring the circle in states like Florida or Virginia, although not necessarily in the North (then again, who knows? Look at Wallace's strength in the primaries). Also probably would keep MS and AL from going for "unpledged."
