Wednesday, December 28, 2016

Really? Most Americans Wanted Hillary President?

On more than one occasion, I have heard the claim that "most of" or a "majority of" Americans wanted Hillary to be president because she won the popular vote. That claim is wrong on many levels.

First of all, Hillary -- like anyone else who has run for the presidency -- knows that you have to win the electoral vote to win the election.  She probably would be the President-elect with both the electoral and popular vote if she had campaigned more often in states like Michigan, Wisconsin, and Pennsylvania, but she took those typically "blue states" for granted. She ignored them.

Yes, she did win the popular vote, but only because of California.  Without the votes in that state, for both her and Trump, "the Donald" would have won by 1.4 million.  The simple fact, is that Trump won the popular vote in 30 of the 50 states.  Also understand that Hillary did not win most of the votes or even the "majority" of votes.  She won 48% of the popular vote which gives her a plurality and not a majority.  That's important, because in winning only 48% of the vote, it means that 52%  voted against her.

There is something else to consider as well. The 2016 turnout was the lowest in 20 years, with only 55.4% of eligible voters participating.  If, in fact, there was a higher turnout, Hillary may have, again, won both the popular vote and the electoral vote.  However, she was not a desirable candidate, and too many previous Obama-voters stayed home. 

Finally, there's this. Hillary won only 48% of the 55.4% of the voters who turned out. Therefore less than 27% of the country actually voted for her.  Not "most of" or a "majority of" Americans wanted her as President.

Can we please move on!

References:

It's Official: Clinton's Popular Vote Win Came Entirely From California: http://www.investors.com/politics/commentary/its-official-clintons-popular-vote-win-came-entirely-from-california/

Voter turnout at 20-year low in 2016: http://www.cnn.com/2016/11/11/politics/popular-vote-turnout-2016/

Hillary Clinton’s campaign was crippled by voters who stayed home: https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2016/11/09/hillary-clintons-campaign-was-crippled-by-voters-who-stayed-home/?utm_term=.f98a53c907c1

Politico: How Hillary blew Michigan, and the election: http://hotair.com/archives/2016/12/14/politico-how-hillary-blew-michigan-and-the-election/

Plurality (voting) - Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plurality_(voting)


No comments: