I suggested below that though on average whites did not move toward the Democrats, regionally there might be differences. I inferred this from the fact that areas where blacks are thin on the ground in the South it looks as if John McCain did better than George W. Bush in 2004. So I compared the voting patterns of whites in the 2008 and 2004 elections; and there are regional differences. 2008 Democratic presidential white vote declined 15% or more vs. 20042008 Democratic presidential white vote increased 15% or more vs. 2004
2008 Democratic presidential white vote 10 pts or more below national white vote2008 Democratic presidential white vote 10 pts or more above national white vote
Here are the raw data....
KerryObama2008-2004 abs.2008-2004 rel.Local vs. Nat.
National414325%
Alabama1910-9-47%-32
Alaska3332-1-3%-10
Arizona4140-1-2%-2
Arkansas3630-6-17%-12
California4752511%10
Colorado42551331%13
Connecticut515100%9
D.C.808668%44
Delaware4553818%11
Florida424200%0
Georgia232300%-19
Hawaii58701221%28
Idaho2933414%-9
Illinois485136%9
Indiana34451132%3
Iowa495124%9
Kansas3440618%-2
Kentucky353613%-6
Louisiana2414-10-42%-28
Maine535859%16
Maryland4449511%7
Massachusetts5957-2-3%15
Michigan4451716%9
Minnesota505336%11
Mississippi1411-3-21%-31
Missouri424200%0
Montana3945615%3
Nebraska3339618%-3
Nevada434525%3
New Hampshire505448%12
New Jersey464937%7
New Mexico4342-1-2%0
New York495236%10
North Carolina2735830%-7
North Dakota3542720%0
Ohio444625%4
Oklahoma292900%-13
Oregon50601020%18
Pennsylvania454837%6
Rhode Island575812%16
South Carolina2226418%-16
South Dakota3741411%-1
Tennessee343400%-8
Texas252614%-16
Utah2431729%-11
Vermont58681017%26
Virginia3239722%-3
Washington5259713%17
West Virginia4241-1-2%-1
Wisconsin4754715%12
Wyoming2832414%-10
