Title

Florida: Obama Gives Gop The Blues

Abstract

Introduction In 2008, Florida continued a record of having picked-with just the two exceptions of 1960 and 1992-the winner of the presidential election in every contest in the post-World War II era. Barack Obama's victory underscored how competitive Florida has become in presidential elections since 1992, and that is a state that now seems a perennial "battleground."1 Gone are the days when Florida could be considered a reliably Republican state in presidential elections. In 1992, George H. W. Bush eked out a narrow win over Bill Clinton. Four years later Clinton devoted time and resources to the state and became the first Democrat to win the Sunshine State in twenty years. The 2000 presidential election, of course, essentially produced a tie between Al Gore and George W. Bush, and in doing so decided the outcome of the election. Bush increased his margin against John Kerry four years later, but Florida still remained the most competitive southern state. Consequently, the fact that Florida was a fiercely contested state in the 2008 presidential election-with unprecedented resources being devoted to it-was not remarkable. On the other hand, the victory by a perceived liberal African American senator from Illinois was historic. Prior Democratic victories in the post-World War II period were all achieved by southern Democrats (in 1948, 1964, 1976, and 1996)2 and in the cases of Harry Truman, Lyndon Johnson, and Bill Clinton each had the advantage of being an incumbent president. Obama's victory against John McCain, in many ways a Republican candidate who was tailor-made for Florida, may indicate that the Sunshine State is evolving into a state that will increasingly lean Democratic in presidential elections. © 2009 by The University of Arkansas Press. All rights reserved.

Publication Date

12-1-2009

Publication Title

A Paler Shade of Red: The 2008 Presidential Election in the South

Number of Pages

137-159

Document Type

Article; Book Chapter

Personal Identifier

scopus

Socpus ID

84904453554 (Scopus)

Source API URL

https://api.elsevier.com/content/abstract/scopus_id/84904453554

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