The two closest elections of the 20th century: Mirror Images

[WhyteRain]

Of 48 states, only SEVEN voted the same way in 1916 as in 2000 -- Washington, California, New Mexico, South Dakota, Indiana, West Virginia, and Maryland.

[WhyteRain]

Adding County Level Maps:

[EmersonAdams]

This is interesting! Well, George Bush is kind of like the anti-Wilson, so it makes sense their maps are almost mirror images.

[WhyteRain]

This is interesting! Well, George Bush is kind of like the anti-Wilson, so it makes sense their maps are almost mirror images.

Both Bush and Wilson went to war to "make the world safe for democracy" and to "teach [foreign nations] to elect good men".  Also, their domestic security policies were similar.

[EmersonAdams]

I do suppose that the ideological foundations behind Wilson's foreign policy were similar to bush's, but both were carried out in very different ways. Bush relied on exporting democracy through unilateral military interventions, while Wilson was an internationalist. He proposed the League of Nations, which would have sacrificed some sovereignty to resolve international disputes, something Bush never would have done. Our relationship with the UN under bush was "tenuous" at best. Plus, Wilson was a progressive that established the federal income task, passed strict anti-trust legislation, and set up the federal reserve. He even crusaded for women's suffrage and tougher child-labor laws. 

[WhyteRain]

Since Wilson and Bush were so opposite, the only explanation for the "mirror image effect" is the wholesale population exchanges from the Mountain West and Dixie to New England and the Pacific Coast.

That would also explain why Obama this year will win nearly none of the states won by the Democratic nominee in 1896.

[freepcrusher]

another interesting thing is that Obama only won about a quarter of all the counties won by Adlai Stevenson in 1956.

[Okay, maybe Mike Johnson is a competent parliamentarian.]

Since Wilson and Bush were so opposite, the only explanation for the "mirror image effect" is the wholesale population exchanges from the Mountain West and Dixie to New England and the Pacific Coast.

That would also explain why Obama this year will win nearly none of the states won by the Democratic nominee in 1896.

They weren't wholesale population exchanges, they were exchanges in (perceived) ideology.

[WhyteRain]

Since Wilson and Bush were so opposite, the only explanation for the "mirror image effect" is the wholesale population exchanges from the Mountain West and Dixie to New England and the Pacific Coast.

That would also explain why Obama this year will win nearly none of the states won by the Democratic nominee in 1896.

They weren't wholesale population exchanges, they were exchanges in (perceived) ideology.

That's exactly my point:  The modern Democratic Party has morphed into the Gilded Age GOP.  (Meanwhile, the modern GOP has, to a lesser extent, morphed into the 19th century Democratic Party -- a party ironically first named "Republican".)

[Oldiesfreak1854]

Actually,  I would argue that 1960 was closer than 1916.  And as for the parties morphing into their 19th century opposing counterparts, I would agree, but only in terms of voting patterns.