North Dakota to Texas vs. Minnesota to Louisiana

[FerrisBueller86]

The Great Plains column of states (North Dakota to Texas) are so heavily Republican that five of them (North Dakota, Saudi Dakota, Nebraska, Kansas, and Oklahoma) haven't voted for a Democratic presidential nominee since LBJ in 1964 while Texas hasn't voted for a Democratic presidential nominee since Carter in 1976.

The west Mississippi River states were all carried by Clinton TWICE.  He easily carried Missouri, Arkansas, and Louisiana, states that weren't in play in 2000 or 2004.  Some surveys some of you have posted say that Arkansas and Louisiana are even more socially conservative than Mississippi, Alabama, and South Carolina.  Iowa is a battleground state now that Dukakis carried in 1988 (though the farm crisis played a role in this), and Minnesota is the only state that Reagan never carried.

What exactly makes these neighboring columns of states so different?  If Arkansas and Louisiana are THAT socially conservative, what keeps them from being as heavily Republican as the states to the west?

[Alcon]

Arkansas and Louisiana more conservative than Mississippi and Alabama?  What surveys were those?

[nclib]

The west Mississippi River states were all carried by Clinton TWICE.  He easily carried Missouri, Arkansas, and Louisiana, states that weren't in play in 2000 or 2004.

He of course carried Arkansas because it was his home state. Missouri was relatively close in 2000. Louisiana was 52% for Clinton in 1996, which really surprises me since it's so socially conservative and wasn't even close in 2000 or 2004.

What exactly makes these neighboring columns of states so different?  If Arkansas and Louisiana are THAT socially conservative, what keeps them from being as heavily Republican as the states to the west?

Higher black population. (Many socially conservative blacks vote Democrat.)

[Alcon]

Higher black population. (Many socially conservative blacks vote Democrat.)

That's true, but I still can't imagine how it could beat Mississippi in social conservativism.  There are at least some social liberals in the New Orleans area, certainly.  Mississippi has pretty much nothing.

[muon2]

The Mississippi River valley has long held strong support for the Democrats while the plains counties away from the river in both directions go Republican. This is particularly clear in IA and WI in the north and AR, MS and LA in the south. In MO and IL it's true to a lesser degree.