Describe a Goldwater-Humphrey Voter

[E-Dawg]

This might be the single most unlikely voting switch post WII. I'll give the only idea I can come up with:
A voter who was economically very liberal, but was also very socially conservative and pro-segregation. He was a lifelong Democrat before the 1964 election, but he was so strongly opposed to the Civil Rights Act that he put that issue above his economic interests and reluctantly voted for Goldwater. In 1968 his preferred candidate was Wallace, but he lived in a hotly contested state that Wallace had no chance of winning. Because he knew Wallace would not carry his state, he decided that he would instead vote for  Humphrey as a lesser evil vote. Despite his strong disagreement with Humphrey on desegregation, he saw no particular difference between him and Nixon on the issue. So he decided to reluctantly vote for Humphrey for economic reasons.

Does anyone have any evidence of a voter fitting that description existing anywhere? It honestly does not seem too implausible to me, the motivation fully makes sense.

[E-Dawg]

Could have been Goldwater Girl Hillary Clinton--but she was too young to vote in 1964.

Yeah, but she had a clear change in political views during that time, Im looking for an example where the voter's views barely changed, such as mine.

[E-Dawg]

Could have been Goldwater Girl Hillary Clinton--but she was too young to vote in 1964.

Yeah, but she had a clear change in political views during that time, Im looking for an example where the voter's views barely changed, such as mine.

I do think it's the hardest one to do without counting people who simply changed their politics. Goldwater was very conservative, while Humphrey was pretty solidly liberal. There are counties in the South that voted this way, but it was because of the VRA enfranchising blacks. I haven't heard of any counties in the North voting like this or even counties where Humphrey did better than Johnson, though maybe there are some.

How about someone who soured on the Vietnam War and didn't really see major differences between Nixon and Humphrey on domestic issues?

I think the idea I gave of the fiscally liberal segregationist is one that makes sense, and I am curious if there is any evidence of that type of voting existing.

[E-Dawg]

Could have been Goldwater Girl Hillary Clinton--but she was too young to vote in 1964.

Yeah, but she had a clear change in political views during that time, Im looking for an example where the voter's views barely changed, such as mine.

I do think it's the hardest one to do without counting people who simply changed their politics. Goldwater was very conservative, while Humphrey was pretty solidly liberal. There are counties in the South that voted this way, but it was because of the VRA enfranchising blacks. I haven't heard of any counties in the North voting like this or even counties where Humphrey did better than Johnson, though maybe there are some.

How about someone who soured on the Vietnam War and didn't really see major differences between Nixon and Humphrey on domestic issues?

I think the idea I gave of the fiscally liberal segregationist is one that makes sense, and I am curious if there is any evidence of that type of voting existing.

Well if you're saying someone who wanted to vote Wallace but didn't because he had no chance of carrying their state, that would most likely mean a northern state. I find it hard to believe someone who lived in the North would feel so strongly about segregation that they would overlook Goldwater's economic views. However, there are some southern states Wallace had no chance of carrying like Texas and Virginia (Florida also looks like a longshot) so your hypothetical voter might be there.

I was thinking that a person fitting my description would be either a Southern transplant living in a swing state, or a Texan.