The Official US President Election Thread

[Jonathan]

Kerry just phoned Bush and conceded.

He is going to hold a concession speech at 1 p.m. ET. Bush is going to deliver a victory statement at 3 p.m. ET.

[Janny]

Wee hee!

Bush / Cheney: 274
Kerry / Edwards: 252 with Iowa and New Mexico to go.

[inked]

I am grateful that Kerry is acting the man and giving up the dead ghost of a chance of overturning the most popularly voted President in USA history!
(not gloating, but I did call this before the election! )!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Valandil]

Originally Posted by inked

... the most popularly voted President in USA history!

Not quite - Reagan received more votes in 1984... and there have been several races where the margin was wider...

[Jonathan]

The margin has been much larger in previous races but according to the website JD posted a few pages ago (Presidential Elections, 1789–2000), Bush received more votes than Reagan in 1984, +58 million votes versus Reagan's 54 million. Hey, even Kerry got more votes than Reagan did - 55 million

[inked]

Perhaps I misunderstood, but commentators on 4 networks kept referring to the number of votes President Bush received as the most ever received. But I had to run out for a delivery at 4 AM and could've misheard the report! (Presidential candidates may delay voting results, but babies just won't wait - even on election night!).

[Valandil]

Originally Posted by Jonathan

The margin has been much larger in previous races but according to the website JD posted a few pages ago (Presidential Elections, 1789–2000), Bush received more votes than Reagan in 1984, +58 million votes versus Reagan's 54 million. Hey, even Kerry got more votes than Reagan did - 55 million

Ah - OK, my newspaper just had Bush at something like 52 mill... but now that you mention it, I remember seeing something online where the total of the two was ~ 113 mill.

So - I stand corrected!

*still getting used to this brave new world, where a freshly printed paper carries old news!*

[Nurvingiel]

Ah, but you do have to take those numbers as proportions of the entire population, because each subsequent year there are more people.

I'm a little confused about Electoral college votes. Does a state get more if it has more people, and some are added as their population grows? The reason I ask is according to the website JD posted (this one), there were 146 in 1789 and 537 in 2000. Is there special rules around where and when to add a vote?

For example, Ronald Reagan got 59% of the popular vote in 1984.

[Valandil]

Originally Posted by Nurvingiel

I'm a little confused about Electoral college votes. Does a state get more if it has more people, and some are added as their population grows? The reason I ask is according to the website JD posted (this one), there were 146 in 1789 and 537 in 2000. Is there special rules around where and when to add a vote?

Yes Nurv - a state's total number of electoral votes is determined by adding together their senators (which is two for each state) and their representatives (which varies by population - allocated by the previous census - but is always a minimum of one). I don't remember how many total representatives we started out with, but once the number reached 435, it became fixed there - and representatives were apportioned out based on that total. In the early 1960's, the District of Columbia was granted 3 electoral votes as well - since that is not part of any state, but this allowed them to vote for President.

So - our current total is 100 (senators) plus 435 (representatives) plus 3 (District of Columbia) = 538 total electoral votes available

[brownjenkins]

you really have to look at percentages in the end... population changes year to year... how many people actually vote changes year to year... etc.

atm, we're looking at 51% bush, 48% kerry, 1% nader

38% voted against bush in texas... about the same against kerry in massachusetts

which basically tells me that this country is as divided down the middle as ever... should be another fun four years

and yes nurv... electoral votes are adjusted according to population shifts

[Nurvingiel]

Originally Posted by Jonathan

Kerry just phoned Bush and conceded.

He is going to hold a concession speech at 1 p.m. ET. Bush is going to deliver a victory statement at 3 p.m. ET.

Woah I missed that post.

...

[Sister Golden Hair]

Well, I'm happy with the outcome, however, just because Ohio did it doesn't mean I take full responsibility for the next four years.

[jerseydevil]

Originally Posted by brownjenkins

which basically tells me that this country is as divided down the middle as ever... should be another fun four years

Well actually you can also argue that Clinton never got over 50% of the vote though. Bush got 51%.

Nurv - every ten years when the census is done, the number of senators and congressman shifts as people have said. In 2000 - Florida had 25 electoral votes - because of population shifts - Florida had 27 this time. If Puerto Rico becomes a state - it will also affect the electoral college and some states will lose votes. It used to be that there was a representative for every 30,000 people - but with the growth of the US - they changed the constitution so the house is fixed at 435. It would have become too unweidly with 1 rep/30,000 - Plainsboro itself would basically have it's own representative in congress.

Also - it wa argued during the Constitutional Convention whether new states should have the same "rights and representation rules" as the original 13. If they considered new states to be second class - california would not have representation it does - nor would florida and ohio. But they felt that if a new state was created - they should be no different than the original states. NJ is still the 9th largest state - but it won't always be like that (it's possible that Georgia will overtake us in the next election and we will be the 10th largest next census) - we only have about 8,000 sq miles of land.

I'm so glad that Kerry has decided not to drag america through a recount - especially since it was so obvious that it was a huge victory for Bush.

[Arat-Falathion]

Another 4 years with Bush... I'll be praying :P

[Khamûl]

Well, I'm happy with the outcome and I must admit that it is classy of Kerry not to drag it out and grasp at as many straws as possible.

[Insidious Rex]

Well the Red Sox win the world series and americans actually oked a SECOND term for George Bush. Will wonders never cease. The world must trully be upside down now. Its a surreal time. Prepare for the complete deforestation of the country and the rich getting a lot richer over the next four years. And of course prepare for hardening our status as a global pariah to the point where a democratic president in 8 years might not be able to fix the damage for half a generation or more. oh well. C’est La Vie right? woops! spoke french. clearly that will be banned in a matter of weeks now.

So whos ready to predict cabinet shifts? Im assuming Powell is gone since hes an annoyance to the hard core right wing that comprises the rest of the administration. Do you see Cheneys stealth darth vadar roll changing so they can scrub him up for 2008?

[jerseydevil]

Originally Posted by Insidious Rex

Well the Red Sox win the world series and americans actually oked a SECOND term for George Bush. Will wonders never cease. The world must trully be upside down now. Its a surreal time. Prepare for the complete deforestation of the country and the rich getting a lot richer over the next four years. And of course prepare for hardening our status as a global pariah to the point where a democratic president in 8 years might not be able to fix the damage for half a generation or more. oh well. C’est La Vie right? woops! spoke french. clearly that will be banned in a matter of weeks now.

Ahhh - the negativity is great here.

So whos ready to predict cabinet shifts? Im assuming Powell is gone since hes an annoyance to the hard core right wing that comprises the rest of the administration. Do you see Cheneys stealth darth vadar roll changing so they can scrub him up for 2008?

I seriously doubt that - Powell is a great Secretary of State and I think there will be MORE cooperation now. NO ONE in the world can say that bush stole the election or that he is not the legitimate president - like many of the leaders around the world were saying - including Chirac and Schroeder. This is a different election and the American people have spoken - both nationally and electorally. Whether people like the outcome or not - there is NO question as to who are president is now. It's time to move on beyond 2000 now and stop bitching about the past there.

I would suggest people read Tom Barnett's "The Pentagon's New Map" or watch the video which is free off his website.

[Insidious Rex]

Originally Posted by jerseydevil

Ahhh - the negativity is great here.

Hey you need to let the disinfrachised vent for the next 48 hours at least. Id do the same for you.

I seriously doubt that - Powell is a great Secretary of State

well I think there are plenty of people in the administration who would rather see him go quite frankly. thats pretty well known. it will come down to is Bush one of those people and if not will he be influenced enough by those hawks to dump him. or will powell take a cue and walk himself.

and I think there will be MORE cooperation now. NO ONE in the world can say that bush stole the election or that he is not the legitimate president

we didnt become pariahs because of the 2000 election, that was just wood for the fire. We became pariahs AFTER afghanistan when we attacked Iraq. thats when the dominos really started to fall. So i dont see this election suddenly reversing that at all.

Moot ferriners? did you suddenly wake up with a great feeling about the good ole US because Bush got 51% this time? Did you lose all bitter taste in your mouth for Iraq and such over night? How bout your leaders?

[Valandil]

well...










at least we all like Tolkien...

*ducks*

[brownjenkins]

Originally Posted by jerseydevil

Well actually you can also argue that Clinton never got over 50% of the vote though. Bush got 51%.

exactly... very close for quite a while now in the US... which at least has the effect of not letting the extremes on either side push things too far