Sandy Shanks
Gold Member
- Jul 10, 2018
- 3,550
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Trump's followers would have us believe that Trump defied all the national polls and won the election. They could not be more wrong.
In the first place, the national polls gauge the popular vote, not the Electoral College.
In the second place, Trump lost the popular vote by three million. Trump won in the Electoral College because voters in small states (in terms of population) have a larger say in the Presidential election than the voters in large states.
American University Professor Allan Lichtman who became famous for accurately predicting the winner of every Presidential election since 1984 -- including 2016 -- has issued his verdict for 2020: Joe Biden will defeat President Trump.
But the historian got it wrong. The Times writes, "Right now, polls say Joe Biden has a healthy lead over President Trump. But we’ve been here before (cue 2016), and the polls were, frankly, wrong."
No, they were not!
National polls only measure the popular vote. Clinton did, in fact, win the national popular vote by 2.1 points. The average of the 13 final national polls had Clinton ahead by 3.1 points, which was only a point off the actual result. One last look: 2016 polls actually got a lot right | TheHill
The election was won by less than 80,000 votes. Axios reports that Trump won Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin by 0.2, 0.7 and 0.8 percentage points, respectively — and by 10,704, 46,765 and 22,177 votes. Those three wins gave him 46 electoral votes; if Clinton had done one point better in each state, she'd have won the electoral vote, too."
Nearly everyone today has forgotten the effect James Comey had on the election. Eleven days before Election Day, FBI Director Comey reopened the FBI investigation of Hillary Clinton. Clinton had a substantial lead in the polls, but in the week that followed Comey's announcement her lead quickly evaporated. Two days before the election, Comey issued a "sorry about that" and closed the investigation for lack of anything new.
The Hill reports, "Exit polling found that late-deciders in Florida, Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin broke for Trump by double-digit margins as high as 29 points."
During the election campaign, every voter in the country knew that the FBI was investigating Clinton. The FBI was also investigating the Trump campaign for its alleged cooperation with Russia. Voters were not aware of that investigation until after the election.
In the first place, the national polls gauge the popular vote, not the Electoral College.
In the second place, Trump lost the popular vote by three million. Trump won in the Electoral College because voters in small states (in terms of population) have a larger say in the Presidential election than the voters in large states.
American University Professor Allan Lichtman who became famous for accurately predicting the winner of every Presidential election since 1984 -- including 2016 -- has issued his verdict for 2020: Joe Biden will defeat President Trump.
But the historian got it wrong. The Times writes, "Right now, polls say Joe Biden has a healthy lead over President Trump. But we’ve been here before (cue 2016), and the polls were, frankly, wrong."
No, they were not!
National polls only measure the popular vote. Clinton did, in fact, win the national popular vote by 2.1 points. The average of the 13 final national polls had Clinton ahead by 3.1 points, which was only a point off the actual result. One last look: 2016 polls actually got a lot right | TheHill
The election was won by less than 80,000 votes. Axios reports that Trump won Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin by 0.2, 0.7 and 0.8 percentage points, respectively — and by 10,704, 46,765 and 22,177 votes. Those three wins gave him 46 electoral votes; if Clinton had done one point better in each state, she'd have won the electoral vote, too."
Nearly everyone today has forgotten the effect James Comey had on the election. Eleven days before Election Day, FBI Director Comey reopened the FBI investigation of Hillary Clinton. Clinton had a substantial lead in the polls, but in the week that followed Comey's announcement her lead quickly evaporated. Two days before the election, Comey issued a "sorry about that" and closed the investigation for lack of anything new.
The Hill reports, "Exit polling found that late-deciders in Florida, Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin broke for Trump by double-digit margins as high as 29 points."
During the election campaign, every voter in the country knew that the FBI was investigating Clinton. The FBI was also investigating the Trump campaign for its alleged cooperation with Russia. Voters were not aware of that investigation until after the election.