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In addition, Ferraro appears to have turned off both male and female Southerners, many of whom are not ready for a woman Veep, much less a fast-talking one from Queens. "She made the South ours," declared Reagan's political director Edward Rollins. Said Florence Robinson of Memphis: "I'm a liberated woman, but I don't think a woman should be running things in Washington."
No Democrat has ever won the White House without winning Texas, and Mondale lost it by 28 points. He made an early push in the Lone-Star State, staging an impressive registration drive that claimed half a million new voters. But the Republicans countered, adding 400,000 to their rolls. Reagan made significant inroads into the Hispanic vote, winning 36%.
Once again, the West was a monolith for the Republicans. To Westerners, Reagan rides tall in the saddle. Mondale, on the other hand, "is the perfect reflection of the left wing of the Democratic Party," says Arizona's Democratic Governor Bruce Babbitt. Mondale thought he had an outside chance of picking off the President's home state, California, by forging a coalition of women, Hispanics, blacks and supporters of a nuclear freeze. He hoped that Reagan's embrace of Moral Majority Leader Jerry Falwell would not sit well in a state known for its liberal lifestyle. The Democrats signed up 660,000 new voters and spent $4 million on a media blitz. But Reagan won by 16 percentage points. Mondale did not fare as well among California Hispanics as he had hoped; according to an ABC exit poll, he beat Reagan by only 62% to 34%. Even 13% of California's blacks chose Reagan.
In 1980, NBC exit polls showed that Reagan did worse among voters ages 18 to 24 than he did with any other age group, splitting them evenly with Carter at 44%. On Tuesday young voters went 60% to 40% for Reagan. What changed their minds? A University of Alabama student leader may have answered at a Reagan rally last month when he declared, "Mr. President, we feel with you in office that when we graduate, we can get a job."
Voters between the ages of 25 and 34 also went heavily for Reagan, 56% to 44%. The much courted yuppie vote was solidly Republican too. As many self-described young professionals chose Reagan (67% to 32%) as did self-described born-again Christians (69% to 31%). Like their younger siblings, those ages 25 to 34 are less likely to be bound by party identification. Indeed, the election showed that those born during and after the baby boom are very much up for grabs in every election.
Richard Wirthlin, the President's pollster, says that it is wrong to ascribe Reagan's support among younger voters solely to economic self-interest. According to Wirthlin, surveys show that foreign policy was an even more important issue to them. Although they expressed their concerns about the arms race, Reagan came out ahead in their minds as the candidate who could better deal with the Soviet Union.
Mondale courted senior citizens by warning that Reagan would cut their Social Security and Medicare benefits. But on Tuesday the over-65s went for Reagan 61% to 39%. The fact that Reagan, 73, is the oldest man ever elected President did not seem to bother voters. Just 10% cited his age as a significant issue, fewer than in 1980.