Your challenge, whatever it takes, is to have the elctoral map look like these today:

Screenshot_2017-03-11-18-29-52-1-1.png

When Republicans win.

Screenshot_2017-03-11-18-30-03-1.png

When Democrats win.
 
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Your challenge, whatever it takes, is to have the elctoral map look like these todat:

Screenshot_2017-03-11-18-29-52-1-1.png

When Republicans win.

Screenshot_2017-03-11-18-30-03-1.png

When Democrats win.

The South and the East industrialize, while California and the Middle West stay rural areas where conservative republicans achieve political victories?
 
About the changes in both the Republican and Democratic parties @Analytical Engine.

Ah, ok.

Once upon a time, the Democrats had all the religious right, whilst the Republicans were broadly centrist. Keep the religious right with the Democrats, and they stay a thing in the south, whilst the Republicans are more of a thing in the north and west. Either absorbing the Progressive Party (or not have them exist at all) gives them more traction in the Midwest and Rockies.
 
Assuming similar populations as OTL, this is tricky.

I'm thinking that the GOP goes to the left on social issues, while the Dems are social conservatives. That alone won't do it, since the GOP has the sparsely-populated Plains and Rockies states. I see a schism between Southern farmers and Midwestern farmers as well as the GOP being the party of big AND small business.

NY, PA and the more urban New England states fall with the Dems based on a huge morality push in the area. Boston used to be a vary socially conservative city; if this spreads to Hartford, NYC and Philly, then they fall in line with the Dems and the hardline South.

VA, KY and TN being swing states probably hinges on KY and TN being divided between Southern and Midwestern farm communities, and VA hinges on social issues.
 
One key could be to keep the black vote with the GOP or at least divided between parties.

In the 40's and 50's there was a split in the GOP over which way to go for more votes.

One faction wanted to go strong on civil rights and attract the black vote back from Democrats (remember it had been strongly GOP until the Depression)

The other wanted to go after southern conservatives.

if you look in the 50's and early 60's (the Nixon campaign in 60 is a good example) there was a real effort to support Civil Rights and push for equality.

But the black vote remained heavily Democratic so the conservative faction won out.
 
That's really, really tricky. You have the Left Coast agreeing with Kansas and Utah, while Minnesota votes like the Deep South.

I can think of somewhat plausible scenarios for that group of red states or that group of blue states, but it's a lot harder to have them happen in the same universe.

Maybe a few demographic changes. The Deep South reaches a tipping point due to African-Americans having a higher birthrate, return migration, and increased migration of retirees.

California could see an accelerated rate of population growth among Hispanics. If the Democrats go off the deep end on social issues and Republicans dial back their immigration stance (maybe by keeping the front door open with minimal cost and red tape), the GOP might win over enough Hispanic voters to turn California red. That would work with Making the South Blue Again because the GOP has a much worse reputation with black voters than Hispanic voters (W got 44% of the Hispanic vote.)

I still don't see how to flip Oregon and Washington, though. And Vermont going red is borderline ASB.
 
Just take note guys that you can radically change things: maybe by changing populations, changing party ideologies, etc. Whatever it takes.
 
Could maybe be a map from that one scenario I had where the GOP developed into a Christian, pro-minority, pro-life, anti-gun control moderate party while the Democrats were a secular, "law and order", pro-choice, pro-gun control, pro-labor party. I'll try and find the list.
 
Some continuation of this to the present day maybe:

A list I made on this sort of scenario:

Solid South Forever or The Party of Lincoln
1944: Franklin Roosevelt/James Byrnes (Democratic) [1]

def. Thomas Dewey/John Bricker (Republican)
1945: James Byrnes [2]
1948: Thomas Dewey/Harold Stassen (Republican) [3]

def. James Byrnes/Brien McMahon (Democratic) and Henry Wallace/Glen Taylor (Progressive)
1952: Thomas Dewey/Harold Stassen (Republican) [4]
def. Adlai Stevenson/Robert Kerr (Democratic)
1956: Estes Kefauver/Robert Wagner Jr. (Democratic)[5]
def. Harold Stassen/George Bender (Republican)
1960: Estes Kefauver/Robert Wagner Jr. (Democratic) [6]
def. Henry Cabot Lodge Jr./Goodwin Night (Republican)
1961: Robert Wagner Jr. (Democratic) [7]
1964:George Romney/Mark Hatfield (Republican)[8]

def. Robert Wagner Jr./Albert Gore (Democratic) and Strom Thurmond/Orval Faubus
1968: Lyndon Johnson/John Kennedy (Democratic)[9]
def. George Romney/Mark Hatfield (Republican) and George Wallace/Lester Maddox
1972: Mark Hatfield/William Scranton (Republican)[10]
def. Lyndon Johnson/John Kennedy (Democratic)
1976: Henry Jackson/Terry Sanford (Democratic) [11]
def. Mark Hatfield/William Scranton (Republican)
1980: George H.W. Bush/Nancy Kassebaum (Republican) [12]
def. Henry Jackson/Terry Sanfrod (Democratic)
1984: George H.W. Bush/Nancy Kassebaum (Republican) [13]
def. Terry Sanford/John Glenn (Democratic)

[1] Byrnes managed to get on the Democratic ticket, like many thought he would in OTL. Byrnes was less useful to the ticket than Truman, as his anti-labor stance and his status as a South Carolinian alienated many northern liberals, but FDR still won reelection.
[2] After FDR's death, James Byrnes became President of the United States. His clashes with organized labor lead to a demoralized Democratic Party, which lost control of both Houses of Congress in 1946. Byrnes was more successful in his foreign policy, as the Cold War began and he stood up to the Communists. Despite a spirited challenge from the left of his party, he managed to win the nomination, stopping a civil rights plank from being added in the process.
[3] With the Democratic Party split due to Wallace's Progressive run, Thomas Dewey easily won the 1948 election, ending 16 years of Democratic rule. Dewey managed to get a weak civil rights bill passed (like OTL 1957 or 1960) and issued an executive order desegregating the military, actions which made him popular among black Americans, but very unpopular among Southern whites. The right-wing Republican economic agenda was unpopular, and the 1950 elections saw many defeats for the Republicans, among them Robert Taft of Ohio, with the Democrats winning both chambers.
[4] However, the successful conclusion of the Korean War gave President Dewey the boost he needed to win reelection. The Democrats still managed to gain a couple Senate seats without losing any, and retained a majority in the house. Despite winning reelection and passing another weak civil rights law, Dewey's popularity fell during his second term, with the Democrats winning big again in 1954. By the end of his term, the Republican Party was despised by white Southerners due to Dewey enforcing liberal Supreme Court legislation.
[5] Estes Kefauver won the Democratic primaries and the nomination, and won reelection against the hapless Harold Stassen. Kefauver passed comprehensive regulations and reforms, as well as welfare expansion and pro-labor bills, but at the cost of ignoring civil rights to hold the Democrats together behind his bills.
[6] With a good economy, Kefauver got reelected. However, his health was poor and he died in November of 1961.
[7] President Wagner continued Kefauver's legacy of Progressive legislation. He also fought for Civil Rights action, but he was unable to pass anything significant through Congress.
[8] Wagner won renomination, but his civil rights rhetoric lead to the Democrats in the South revolting and an independent run being lead by South Carolina Senator Strom Thurmond. George Romney, a successful Republican governor of Michigan, won the Presidency, winning moderate voters, many labor voters, and minorities. Romney fought for a comprehensive Voting Rights Act and Civil Rights Act, both of which were passed in 1965. Romney used the Voting Rights Act to mobilize many black voters in the South behind the Republican Party, but his religion and racial progress were used against him by Southern Democrats. Republicans could only get elected in the South in black majority areas.
[9] Economic issues and foreign policy concerns lead to the Democrats thinking they had a great chance in 1968. In order to win back Southern voters, they nominated Texan Senator Lyndon Johnson. Johnson attracted traditional Democratic voters and poor people across the nation, but the most hardcore racists, still bitter over the Civil Rights Act, supported George Wallace's independent campaign. However, no attempt to make a new segregationist political party was made, as the average Southern Democrat still sided more with the National Party.
[10] Johnson passed sweeping progressive economic legislation, but his foreign policy was less successful, as he could not stop the USSR from crushing would-be revolutions in Eastern Europe. Unable to stave off the bad economy and unpopular among many Americans for perceived over-reach in his domestic agenda, Johnson had a tough fight ahead of him in the 1972 election. He managed to defeat a primary challenge from George Wallace, and convince Southern Democrats to stand behind him to stop former Vice President Mark Hatfield, who was associated with the pro-Civil Rights Romney administration. However, a heart attack in the fall kept Johnson off of the campaign trail for weeks, and the President was unwilling to use the heart attack to gain sympathy points. Hatfield won a narrow victory, although the Democrats continued to control Congress. Hatfield swept the black vote, whereas Southern white voted overwhelmingly for Johnson.
President Hatfield's term soon came embroiled in controversy, as in 1973 the Supreme Court passed ruling striking down the death penalty as unconstitutional and establishing that women had the right to an abortion. President Hatfield applauded the death penalty decision, but announced he was "Pro-life in all cases" and stood against the abortion ruling. His pro-life stance irritated the Northeastern liberals in the Republican Party, while his anti-death penalty position was disliked by many midwestern and western Republicans. His strongest allies on social issues were the Southern black Republican leaders, many of whom were religious figures, who opposed the racistly applied death penalty while being against abortion. Even though he stood against abortion, the fact that it was legalized under his presidency, combined with his stand against the death penalty, as well as a general move towards a more socially liberal society occurring in the 1980s made Hatfield emblematic of a culture working class whites were growing increasingly uncomfortable with. Combined with inflation and stagnant economic growth, and Hatfield saw his popularity collapse among blue collar workers. Numerous unions went on strike, protesting the President's actions. Hatfield went into the Republican primary with challenges from his right and his left, although the party ultimately rallied around the incumbent president. The party would have to see if its support among the wealthy, racial minorities, and the evangelical pro-life movement could overcome the blue collar, "hard hat" vote.
[11] The Democratic Party went into the 1976 primaries divided. The South, ever the dominant region of the Democrats, lifted up favorite sons Jimmy Carter, Terry Sanford, and the perennial George Wallace. However, after two nominations of Johnson, and after Presidents Kefauver and Byrnes, the rest of the party had begun to resent the South's dominance. South Dakota Senator George McGovern ran on a "new left" platform, to target minority voters and women and the youth rather relying on the working class. However, McGovern's platform was rejected, and the party instead rallied around Washington Senator Henry "Scoop" Jackson. Scoop's platform of strong national security and New Deal economics appealed to the working class Americans who felt left behind in the Hatfield presidency. Hatfield campaigned well, but ultimately Jackson won the Washington vs. Oregon election by a strong popular vote margin, although the electoral college was a bit closer.
Upon entering office, Jackson set to work promoting American-friendly regimes abroad and a strong economy at home. Quick action on Jackson's part saw the Shah of Iran replaced with a U.S.-aligned Republic, while the President also managed to bring Israel and Egypt to the negotiating table. Jackson also ordered military aid sent to anti-Soviet rebels in Afghanistan and the Balkans, hurting the U.S.S.R.'s military budget. Jackson saw the continued success of the Space Program, and expanded N.A.S.A's budget. He also expanded the healthcare programs started by President Johnson, finally establishing universal healthcare for Americans.
[12] Going into 1980, President Jackson felt secure in his reelection. He was facing former Governor George H.W. Bush of Connecticut, a pro-life moderate who could please both the liberal northeastern and conservative western branches of the GOP. However, in 1980 the U.S. government entered a recession, and Jackson's New Deal Keynesian economics failed to adequately address the problem. Jackson's lead slowly shrank throughout the campaign season, and Bush managed to pull off a narrow victory. After twelve years of Senators and Vice Presidents as President, a governor got elected, as the fifth president in a row lost reelection.
[13] While the first few years of his Presidency suffered from a weak economy, and the Democrats increased their 32-year majority in the House and their 28-year majority in the Senate in 1982, in late 1983 the economy began to improve again due to Bush's moderate conservative policies. Bush rejected the supply-side economic proposals, going for a more moderate route. In foreign policy, Bush kept President Jackson's popular policies, and on social issues he promoted a Christian-based rehabilitation philosophy on crime, continuing to appoint pro-life judges, and seeing the passage of the Equal Rights Amendment. By election day, the President was more popular than ever, and he swept every region of the country other than the South in a massive landslide.
 
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