The last time non-suburban America went GOP?

[Bandit3 the Worker]

If you don't count the suburbs, when was the last the time the Republicans carried the popular vote?

I'd have to say 1972.

Remember, the rural areas were more Democratic than the suburbs until 2000.

[Nym90]

According to the exit polls, it was 2004.

http://elections.nytimes.com/2008/results/president/national-exit-polls.html

Bush did win suburbs 52-47, but his 59-39 win in rural areas and his 50-48 win in cities 10-50k more than made up for Kerry's 60-39 win in cities 500k or above (cities 50-500k were even 49-49) given that rural areas were 14 percent of the total vote and cities 10-50k were another 7 percent, whereas cities 500k or above were only 11 percent.

[Bandit3 the Worker]

According to the exit polls, it was 2004.

No way. Absolutely no way at all.

It couldn't be later than 1984. Cincinnati was the most Republican large metropolitan area in 1988, yet Dukakis won the city itself.

The exit polls clearly defined suburbs and central cities differently than most people would.

[minionofmidas]

They probably did. Pollsters place categories are usually quite weird.
Then again, one man's suburb is another man's smalltown. We really need to have a working definition before we try to determine a year.

[Bandit3 the Worker]

They probably did. Pollsters place categories are usually quite weird.
Then again, one man's suburb is another man's smalltown. We really need to have a working definition before we try to determine a year.

We should start with this: If Bush won it, it's either a suburb, small town, or rural. Since small towns and rural areas probably don't have as many people as large central cities, they wouldn't skew the nonsuburban numbers that much.

Bush barely "won" nationwide even in 2004, and we know the suburbs tended to be pretty conservative and also pretty big.

[minionofmidas]

Lots of Democratic-voting inner suburbs in the Northeast, the Pacific, the Upper Midwest. Some by quite big margins.

[Bandit3 the Worker]

Lots of Democratic-voting inner suburbs in the Northeast, the Pacific, the Upper Midwest. Some by quite big margins.

A lot of these places probably aren't really suburbs. I think they had Jersey City listed as a "suburb."

[minionofmidas]

Lots of Democratic-voting inner suburbs in the Northeast, the Pacific, the Upper Midwest. Some by quite big margins.

A lot of these places probably aren't really suburbs. I think they had Jersey City listed as a "suburb."

Yeah, that's a little ridiculous. Montgomery County MD, though, is certainly "suburban".

[Stranger in a strange land]

Lots of Democratic-voting inner suburbs in the Northeast, the Pacific, the Upper Midwest. Some by quite big margins.

A lot of these places probably aren't really suburbs. I think they had Jersey City listed as a "suburb."

Yeah, that's a little ridiculous. Montgomery County MD, though, is certainly "suburban".

yeah, but even then it's problematic. To cite other examples from the DC metro, I would classify Alexandria and Arlington as small cities, though one could make the argument that they've become suburbs. Fairfax is technically a city, though it feels extremely suburban, and parts feel small-townish.

Still, by any reasonable definition of "subruban," Dukakis probably won non-suburban America in 1988: remember that the suburbs were quite a bit more Republican back then, and rural areas and small towns were more Democratic: just compare the 1988 and 2008 county maps to get an idea.