Although there were cracks in the GOP stronghold of Dixie, Southern voters did not follow a national trend that saw white voters support a Democratic presidential candidate.
According to exit polls, President-elect Barack Obama received 43 percent of the white vote nationwide. That’s more white votes than were cast for previous Democratic presidential candidates Sens. John Kerry of Massachusetts and former Vice President Al Gore. It was about the same that then-President Clinton received in 1996.
But most white voters in the South remained staunchly Republican in their presidential choice. They voted overwhelmingly for Republican Sen. John McCain while few African Americans did.
“It’s baffling sometimes,” said Alabama Democratic Party Executive Director Jim Spearman of racially divided voting patterns in the South.
Magnolia Tribune
