Bush would go on to lose to Bill Clinton four years later during a mild recession, and California and other states drifted out of contention for Republicans, shifting the electoral college advantage to Democrats.

In the seven presidential elections after 1988, Republicans have won three times, and never secured more than 304 electoral votes (which President Trump did in 2016). Only in one presidential election since 1988 did Republicans win the popular vote and that would be in 2004, when Bush’s son George W. Bush beat John Kerry by a popular vote margin of under three points, and secured just 286 electoral votes.