Can someone more familiar than I am with Pac NW politics demonstrate why Washington voted Humphrey in 1968 then Ford/Reagan in 1976/1980? Even if '80 had been a cliff hanger, Reagan still would have carried the state: he won by 12%, 2% more than his national average plus had 49.66% despite John Edwards muddying the waters. Based on earlier replies, it seems we can conclude that Washington was more or less a moderate/'rockefeller' republican state in the 1960-1980 era, but what happened in '68? Did George Wallace's 7% of the state vote muddy the waters? Did the anti-war hippies around Seattle skew to Humphrey?
-Washington State was within three points in 1968 (and 1960 as well) and Wallace got over 6%. So yeah, I think he had an effect, since Wallace generally took more votes from Nixon than Humphrey.
Actually, there's plenty of evidence to suggest otherwise. First, most of Wallace's southern supporters were segregationist Democrats, not Republicans. Now, some of you may point out that Humphrey was pro-civil rights. That's true, except segregationists were Democrats above all else, a fact that is easily demonstrated by their support of other pro-civil rights Democrats, such as JFK. Outside the south, most of Wallace's support came from blue-collar union voters who were solidly Democrat and far more likely to vote for Humphrey than for Nixon. I suspect the shift in Washington state had more to do with the strength of the anti-war movement, especially after Humphrey began distancing himself from Johnson and the Vietnam War.
