From the Pacific Northwest through New England, from the Southwest through the Midwest, Gore is struggling to hold on to states that Democrats had come to consider part of their base in reaching the 270 electoral votes needed for victory. Texas Gov. Bush, the GOP nominee, is having problems securing parts of his own base, particularly in Florida, which Republicans dominated for a quarter-century until Bill Clinton captured it in 1996. In many of these states, Gore is being squeezed between defections on the left to Green Party nominee Ralph Nader and Bush's furious effort to portray the vice president as a pre-Clinton liberal. And Gore appears to have stabilized his position in two mega-states at the heart of Clinton's electoral coalition. But even after these states are excluded, Gore is still laboring, to varying degrees, in 13 other states that Clinton carried in 1992 and 1996.
Local issues are a factor in each state.
But some common threads run through these states. But other analysts say Gore's problems in the Dukakis Six run deeper. These states also share in common significant rural populations. In 1992 and 1996, Clinton held down the traditional GOP advantage in farm country. Democrats note that the same issue contrasts on gun control, abortion and the environment that are helping the party gain ground in moderate suburban communities are costing them support in more socially conservative rural areas.