In the 1964 presidential election, Arizona Senator Barry Goldwater los

In the 1964 presidential election, Arizona Senator Barry Goldwater lost to Lyndon Johnson by a wide margin, but in 1984, Ronald Reagan, running on virtually the same platform as Goldwater, won reelection by a wide margin.

Explain why Goldwater lost and Reagan won.

ANSWER
Many variables are involved, but the switch of fortunes is closely tied to the growth of population in the South and West in the intervening twenty years. Politically conservative views and the Republican party dominate politics in the South and West. Reagan had more people in these regions to vote for these views in 1984 than Goldwater did in 1964.