Presidential Election Profile: Missouri

From the Almanac of American Politics via the New York Times:

Missouri’s peculiar balance of North and South, urban and rural, has helped to make it a presidential bellwether and explains its one deviation in the 20th century, in 1956 when it voted for Adlai Stevenson. He capitalized on farmer discontent and his lukewarmness on civil rights helped him carry traditional Southern Democrats. In the 1990s Missouri saw the two countervailing national trends—toward Democrats in major metropolitan areas, toward Republicans in rural areas—but in different proportions: the rural areas count for more here. In addition to registering voters in urban areas, Barack Obama also is hoping to find support in rural stretches to cut into Republican strongholds.