Why AR, WV, TN, etc. swung Republican

[minionofmidas]

I've been debating the subject on the AH forums; I say due to racist sentiments and a lack of black voters to offset white Southerners going from Kerry to McCain, while someone else says that they're just naturally trending Republican.

Same thing, in a sense.

Though an important part of the equation is that they have relatively high numbers of Southern country folks who still voted Democratic as late as 2004 - it may sound perverse, but part of the answer is comparative weakness (but not absence) of racism as a determinant of voting patterns.

[minionofmidas]

Same factors at work. Fewer Blacks than AR and TN (WV still has Rubes4Obama).

A look at OK's swing map helps.

[minionofmidas]

West Virginia remains mostly Democratic, except of presidential elections. Perhaps a Democratic candidate with some appeal to Appalachia would carry it easily.

Well the ultimate test would be an election featuring Harold Ford.

The ultimate test would be an election featuring a man with a strange muslim-sounding name and tmth's face.