Why couldn't Obama win Georgia in 2008?

[History505]

He was able to pick up states that hadn't voted Dem in years like Indiana, Virginia, North Carolina , yet not Georgia? Why do you think?

[DPKdebator]

Georgia was still a strongly Republican state back then- George W. Bush won it by 16.6% in 2004, and while McCain only won it by 5.2% in 2008, it voted to the right of the nation by 12.5%. The demographic changes (primarily in the Atlanta area) that have been pushing Georgia into contention weren't as pronounced in 2008 as they are in 2018.

[TML]

Remember that Bill Clinton lost GA narrowly in 1996, and that 2008 did not have a strong third party. Thus, I think that Obama might have won GA outright if there had been a third-party challenger as strong as Ross Perot in 1992 & 1996.

[completely dead account]

Because he couldn't pick up the white vote. Black turnout rates were very high that year, but the same amount of whites who voted for Kerry also voted for Obama.

[ElectionsGuy]

The major growth of the Atlanta area which has made the state more competitive just wasn't enough yet at that time. The suburbs were still strongly Republican, as evidenced by McCain doing much better than Trump despite similar margins statewide. In two cycles, Georgia went from 12 points more Republican than the nation to 7 points more Republican.

[ON Progressive]

The suburbs were still incredibly R back then.