Missouri, the bellwether, backed loser: what happened?

[franksolich]

http://www.mcclatchydc.com/251/story/55406.html

Oh my.

Ask not how the bellwether Missouri totaled its votes.

The state has blown — oh, so narrowly — its much vaunted presidential picking reputation.

Unofficial results Wednesday showed John McCain with a 5,868-vote margin in the state — a lead that could narrow as final results are tallied and some 7,000 provisional ballots are examined.

Few observers, though, think the outcome will change. Expect Missouri’s 11 electoral votes go to the Republican amid a national landslide for Barack Obama.

But new history has been written.....

Overall, it was also the first time since 1956, and only the second time since 1900, that the state backed a presidential loser.

That was one of the oddities of the two Eisenhower landslides, of 1952 and 1956.

In 1956, Eisenhower picked up some states he hadn't gotten the first time, but lost to Adlai Stevenson by a razor-thin margin in 1956 in Missouri.

Apparently Republicans didn't fare too badly in Missouri, at the state level.

This, from the comments; probably a pal of the dysmenopausal Kansas school teacher, the "Proud2BLib" primitive:

I am a Missouri resident and was born in Kansas City. During my canvassing on behalf of the Obama campaign, I was constantly disappointed in the belligerence, cat calls and general hostility displayed by McCain supporters.

Instead of being respectful and at least considerate, as we are of their side and candidate, my canvassing partner, a Presbyterian minister by the way, were yelled at by passing cars, called "Abortionists," etc.

I had my yard signs taken and felt a general air of intimidation. Missouri is a less than "tolerant" and racism is overt. We had "undecided" voters stating they wouldn't vote for "his kind, etc."

Missouri has one of the highest rates of unemployment, an aging population and a crumbling infrastructure. During the 2004 campaign, I also received the derision and comments of strangers.

For the record, I voted in the past for Ronald Regan, Ross Perot and Bill Clinton on the second go around. I've also worked for John Danforth and voted for at least two Republicans, recently. If the GOP keeps trying to use wedge issues and divide the country, they will eventually be left behind. Missouri needs to move forward and embrace change.

Oh my.  The mean Missourians.

[Eupher]

Apparently the primitive hasn't been to Columbia, MO.

That place absolutely reeks with liberal snobbery, derision, and overall bad manners. It's a college town, so nobody really expects anything different.

An associate I work with who lives in Columbia, and who professes to be a reasonable conservative, was forced to park her car with the rear bumper facing toward her garage - in order to hide the McCain/Palin bumper sticker.

She did so, of course, to keep her property from being damaged, destroyed, keyed, graffitied, or otherwise maligned.

I think the primitive might feel comfortable in Columbia.

[miskie]

I suspect the Obama machine in Missouri will correct that oversight in the coming days.

[DumbAss Tanker]

We really don't care about that bellwether crap, we just wish all those damned Democrat assholes in St. Louis would pick up and move to Illinois.  Not too sure where to send the ones in KC, but without STL they wouldn't be such a problem.

[thundley4]

We really don't care about that bellwether crap, we just wish all those damned Democrat assholes in St. Louis would pick up and move to Illinois.  Not too sure where to send the ones in KC, but without STL they wouldn't be such a problem.

You may as well send the St. Louis idiots here. As long as Chicago is a part of Illinois, it will be a blue state.

[Jim]

Like it or not, we have to realize that Axelrod came up with two Rove-esque innovations while we didn't even execute the Rove model.  He had an un-natural advantage but give him credit for leveraging it.

Un-natural advantage - black candidate

1st Innovation : Work the system that overweights delegate count on racial demographics, nmore bang for the buck.  Innovation 1-b, put all your money into cauci which can be rigged.  Thats not really his deal, thats a Chicago thang.

2nd Innovation : Victory by a million cuts.  The contest every state thing was not exactly the plan, it was to nibble at every county to get those few extra D's either the blacks or the vote buy so that the overall state advantage is eroded.

Now, we can either throw our hands up or put on our thinking caps.

I say the latter...