Douglas County, Nebraska (2008)

[Robespierre's Jaw]

What caused the tremendous swing towards the Democratic Party there previous election?

[Kaine for Senate '18]

I wouldn't call 14% a big swing.  It was still a county that Kerry won in '04, so it was probably due to Obama have a strong organization in Kansas left over from the primaries.

[Filuwaúrdjan]

Students

[Rob]

As a university town with some bad memories of southern conservatives, perhaps residents of Lawrence resented the whole "Real America/Fake America" thing. Yeah, it's in Kansas, but Douglas County is definitely part of Fake America.

[Alcon]

Lawrence is there.  Its swing wasn't really atypical from other college counties in places like Indiana.  Less, in fact, since IN got more attention.

[Robespierre's Jaw]

Oops, I meant Douglas County, Nebraska, not Kansas.

You can blame Capote for the memory lapse.

[Filuwaúrdjan]

Oops, I meant Douglas County, Nebraska, not Kansas.

Includes a fair-sized city (big for that part of the world), targetted by Obama's campaign.

[Holmes]

It's Omaha's county. It's effected by the urbanization of the Democrats. Were it not for Sarpy, Obama would've won NE-02 more comfortably.

[NOVA Green]

Oops, I meant Douglas County, Nebraska, not Kansas.

Includes a fair-sized city (big for that part of the world), targetted by Obama's campaign.

Not to mention Obama advertising dollars in Western Iowa also reaching Omaha voters.

Having a Democrat from the Midwest probably didn't hurt at all either....

[Verily]

Speaking of Nebraska... Saline County? Is there a college there?

[Filuwaúrdjan]

Speaking of Nebraska... Saline County? Is there a college there?

Going off census figures... probably, but it's tiny. It's also, like, a quarter Czech.

[Rob]

It's also, like, a quarter Czech.

Yeah, it's one of a handful of Plains counties with an "ethnic" working-class Democratic tradition. Some of these places have gone over to the Republicans completely (see: Ellis, KS), but a few haven't.

[minionofmidas]

Saline was the Dems' best county in Nebraska throughout (at least) the second half of the 20th century, before the rural swing to Bush and increased Native turnout in Thurston did that statistic in.
Except (fittingly) 1972 IIRC. I think it was Lancaster that year.

[Husker]

This was the first election in decades that a democrat has campaigned in Nebraska. The eastern 1/5 of the state, which includes Omaha and Lincoln is much more in line with its neighbors to the east politically and could be a swing territory if the democrats keep trying. The western 4/5 is pretty much a lost cause for democrats at a national level and really at the local level as well. An incumbent moderate democrat can win out there though.

Saline County is one of the few counties in Nebraska that has a strong pro-labor population, like counties in eastern IA and points further east do. There is also a tiny liberal arts college in Crete that helps some as well.