Oregon and Minnesota were trending Repub in presidential elections [View All]

[skipos]

In the the Presidential elections of 88, 92, 96, 00 both Oregon and Minnesota were the only typically blue states that were steadily trending away from Democrats. But in 04 both of them reversed the trend and went significantly more for the Democrats. Anyone have any thoughts on has been happening? Was 04 a reverse in the trend, or just a temporary spike?

And just so you can understand the data, "12d" means the state voted 12% more for the Democrats than the national popular vote, "1r" means the state voted 1% more for the Republicans than the national popular vote. Here is the info (rounded) on 88, 92, 96, 00 and 04:

Oregon: 12d, 4d, 1r, 1r, 7d
Minnesota: 15d, 6d, 8d, 2d, 6d