LBJ's Revenge

That's the title of the new article I just coauthored with Tom Schaller of the University of Maryland-Baltimore County. Here's the abstract:

Four decades ago, at the height of Lyndon Johnson's Great Society, Congress passed and the president signed landmark legislation to ensure voting rights, liberalize and expand immigration, and make higher education more accessible. In 2008, a coalition of minorities and upscale whites formed a coalition to elect Barack Obama to the White House. Although many of the Great Society goals remain elusive, the new Democratic majority assembled by Obama represents the emergence of a Great Society electoral coalition.

And here's a teaser. Remember those maps (like the one below) that showed the counties where McCain ran better than Bush?

Here's the reason why. Take a look at the map below which shows counties where native southern whites make up more than 65 percent of the population.