Democrats, Republicans have switched constituencies In case you hadn't noticed, the national Democratic and Republican Parties have been gradually trading political principles, constituencies and turf. It is almost as if they have swapped their very souls. The Big Switch was completed on Election Day, 2000. The returns were an almost exact reversal of the state-by-state party results in the election of the first Republican president in 1860. Except for Ohio, Indiana and New Hampshire, Democrat Al Gore carried every state that voted for Republican Abraham Lincoln in 1860. Except for Delaware and Maryland, Republican George W. Bush carried every state ...