How did Bush win Fairfax County?

[The Economy is Getting Worse]

Good luck to a Republican trying to win Fairfax county today, or even coming within 20.

[TML]

Republican margins in suburban areas like this one had been big during the 1970s & 1980s, but they started to narrow significantly during the Clinton era in the 1990s. Bush's 2000 win was extremely narrow, and in hindsight could be viewed as the last hurrah for Republicans at the presidential level there (as we all know, this county flipped in 2004 and has continued to trend D since then).

[💥💥 brandon bro (he/him/his)]

Fairfax's blue-shift was going to lag behind other suburbs because of its heavy ties to the defense industry. There's a large presence of military/defense contractors and also military personnel. It's honestly pretty surprising Kerry was able to win it in 2004 given the polarization around the Iraq War.

[Vosem]

McDonnell still eked it out as late as 2009.