[Governor Dinwiddie]

Goldwater's Arizona is a distant memory, gone with the wind. The reality is that McCain won his elections with a healthy dose of "D" votes: younger people, soccer moms, and transplants who would have never voted for Barry Goldwater in a million years. You know, people who watch The View.
 

[pepsionice]

One needs to go out to Arizona and drive around the state for three weeks....to really understand the voting blocks. In the 70s/80s, urbanized areas like Phoenix and Tucson grew at a fair pace, and neighborhood associations popped up. The associations melted long-term residents into what I’d call Republican-lite voters and they crossed over to vote for certain types of Republicans (doesn’t matter if you talk local, state, or national).

Same way with the snowbird crowd who elected to stay, and they are well-to-do on finances, but lean toward a centrist political position.

I’d even go and suggest that 10-percent of the state would have no problem in voting for a Green Party candidate.