Maybe this belongs in the History Board, but let's go with it...
Before Republicans start popping any bubbly over the notion of Obama getting voted out, one should consider that voting out incumbant presidents is the exception not the rule. In fact, I was amazed about how few presidents were voted out after one term.
To put it in perspective. 9 incumbant presidents were voted out. 8 Died in office.
And if you get down to cases, you see it takes an awful lot.
Okay, let's look at the list of guys who got voted out.
1828- John Quincy Adams- He got in not because he got the most votes, but because of the corrupt bargain in Congress in 1824. When his presidency turned out to be kind of a dude, the voters made sure the guy who won last time won for certain this time.
1840- Martin Van Buren - Much like George H. Bush, he had the bad luck of being stuck with the check from his predecessor's banking crisis.
1888- Grover Cleveland - I almost don't want to count Grover, because he actually won the popular vote, and was put back in in 1892.
1892- Benjamin Harrison - Only got the job because of the idiocy of the electoral college, the voters got him out next go round. Like JQ Adams and George W. Bush, he only was taken seriously because an ancestor once held the job.
1912- William Taft - This poor guy couldn't catch a break. His political mentor, Teddy Roosevelt, turned on him. When the GOP establishment ignored the primary voters, TR started a third party, splitting the Republican vote.
1932- Herbert Hoover - Great Depression. Nuff said.
1976- Gerald Ford - Again, another guy who needs an asterisk by his name, he was only President because the two guys who won the previous election resigned. He faced a serious internal party challenge by Ronald Reagan. Add a recession and national morale dropping after final defeat in Vietnam and his pardoning of Nixon, he still made a pretty good go of if. But then he was running against...
1980- Jimmy Carter NOthing broke the right way for Carter. Another bad recession, the worst since WWII, an internal party challenge, a third party challenge.
1992- George H.W. Bush - Almost a theme here. An internal party challenge by Pat Buchanan. A third party challenge by Ross Perot. REcession.
So it's going to take a bit to get Obama out. Can't complain about the method of his attaining the office like Adams, Harrison or Ford. Nor is he likely to face an internal party challenger or a third party. He does have a killer recession, which seems to be a recurring theme for these guys.
It's a steep hill to climb, and we need to get our hiking boots on.
Before Republicans start popping any bubbly over the notion of Obama getting voted out, one should consider that voting out incumbant presidents is the exception not the rule. In fact, I was amazed about how few presidents were voted out after one term.
To put it in perspective. 9 incumbant presidents were voted out. 8 Died in office.
And if you get down to cases, you see it takes an awful lot.
Okay, let's look at the list of guys who got voted out.
1828- John Quincy Adams- He got in not because he got the most votes, but because of the corrupt bargain in Congress in 1824. When his presidency turned out to be kind of a dude, the voters made sure the guy who won last time won for certain this time.
1840- Martin Van Buren - Much like George H. Bush, he had the bad luck of being stuck with the check from his predecessor's banking crisis.
1888- Grover Cleveland - I almost don't want to count Grover, because he actually won the popular vote, and was put back in in 1892.
1892- Benjamin Harrison - Only got the job because of the idiocy of the electoral college, the voters got him out next go round. Like JQ Adams and George W. Bush, he only was taken seriously because an ancestor once held the job.
1912- William Taft - This poor guy couldn't catch a break. His political mentor, Teddy Roosevelt, turned on him. When the GOP establishment ignored the primary voters, TR started a third party, splitting the Republican vote.
1932- Herbert Hoover - Great Depression. Nuff said.
1976- Gerald Ford - Again, another guy who needs an asterisk by his name, he was only President because the two guys who won the previous election resigned. He faced a serious internal party challenge by Ronald Reagan. Add a recession and national morale dropping after final defeat in Vietnam and his pardoning of Nixon, he still made a pretty good go of if. But then he was running against...
1980- Jimmy Carter NOthing broke the right way for Carter. Another bad recession, the worst since WWII, an internal party challenge, a third party challenge.
1992- George H.W. Bush - Almost a theme here. An internal party challenge by Pat Buchanan. A third party challenge by Ross Perot. REcession.
So it's going to take a bit to get Obama out. Can't complain about the method of his attaining the office like Adams, Harrison or Ford. Nor is he likely to face an internal party challenger or a third party. He does have a killer recession, which seems to be a recurring theme for these guys.
It's a steep hill to climb, and we need to get our hiking boots on.
