In 2004, the Republican Presidential candidate George W. Bush carried every Southern and Border State except Maryland. He carried Texas with 61 percent, Georgia with 58 percent, North Carolina with 56 percent, Virginia with 54 percent, and Florida with 52 percent.
In 1972, Richard Nixon had carried Texas with 66 percent, Georgia with 76 percent, North Carolina with almost 70 percent, Virginia with 68 percent, and Florida with 72 percent. The South had been a bastion for conservative Republican support.
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