Hey all -- I might have asked this before but take pity on an old man.
Michael Dukakis may be the most inept campaigner in my lifetime. (I don't count McGovern, because we really don't know what he might have done had the Eagleton thing not blown up. Not that he would have won but...)
So refresh my memory. How did Dukakis win West Virginia and lose Vermont? I know H.W. Bush was heir to Reagan and a more moderate heir at that. But still...
Things were a little different in 1988 than today.
That's nearly the exact wording of what I was going to write.
West Virginia used to be very Democratic on the Presidential level, largely for economic reasons (even with a Northern elitist like Dukakis at the helm). Vermont was the first state to have its moderate, New England Republicans begin to die out, but that didn't start happening en masse until the Clinton years.
Basically it's not that weird of a result by 1988 standards. By 2008 standards sure. But 1988 wasn't 2008.
And an additional note: West Virginia is still a very Democratic state. Their only notable Republican office holders are one Congresswoman (whose campaign isn't going terribly well) and the Secretary of State (who's retiring). The Democrats also have massive majorities in the State Legislature. You get the right kind of Democrat in there again (H. Clinton or Warner) and they can probably win it again.
