Why aren't presidential races as national anymore?

[Frodo]

liberals and conservatives (at least socially) are joining the parties that best match their ideological affiliations, as opposed to ethnic or economic affiliations.  people no longer vote Democratic because they are Catholic or Irish for instance, or because their mommies or daddies did.  other considerations take center-stage now.  this has been the trend since 1968.  hence, most liberals tend to live in urban areas and the coasts, and most conservatives live in the hinterland -and that's where presidential candidates tend to flock like buzzards, depending if they are Republicans (increasingly synonymous with being conservative), or Democrats (synonymous with liberal).