Missouri's continuing status as a bellwether has been questioned as it has gone from a swing state to a "Red State". With the exception of two southern Governors, Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton, they have predictably aligned with Republican candidates in elections going back to 1968. In 2008, Missouri narrowly voted for the losing candidate, Republican John McCain, despite a sizeable electoral college win for Democrat Barack Obama. In 2012, Missouri favored losing candidate Mitt Romney by nearly 10 percentage points, despite another big victory for Barack Obama across the rest of the country. In 2016 and 2020, Missouri again voted Republican, this time for Donald Trump twice, with the second time being when it voted for the losing candidate/Republican nominee for the third time in four presidential elections.