Friday, December 16, 2011

PERCENTAGE OF PEOPLE WHO DO NOT THINK THE PRESIDENT SHOULD BE RE-ELECTED

A recent survey shows that 52% of Americans do not think the President should be re-elected. That sounds devastating on the surface, but in fact you should note that you do not have to win the popular vote by a majority to win the election. Because the election is not a popular vote election, the number of votes by state in the electoral college controls who wins. For example, here are the percentages for the last several elections.

1992 Bill Clinton 43.01%
1996 Bill Clinton 49.23%
2000 George W. Bush 47.87%
2004 George W. Bush 50.73%
2008 Barack Obama 52.87%

Bill Clinton never got a majority of the popular vote. George W. Bush only got the majority by a fraction in his section election.

So, while the poll numbers are interesting, and no president wants to be a minority president, the poll is not representative of election results.

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