Correcting Wrong Statements
I happened upon this statement at a forum full of Christian Fundamentalists:
Rebecca and I would never dream of mentioning to them the fact that President Bush won by a bigger popular vote then Reagan.
(UPDATED SECOND RESPONSE:
Ronald Reagan: 54,455,472
Walter Mondale: 37,577,352
Margin o’ Victory: 16,878,120
George Bush: 60,608,582
John Kerry: 57,288,974
Margin o’ Victory: 3,319,608
Rebecca and I would never dream of mentioning to them the fact that President Bush won by a bigger popular vote then Reagan.
Re-reading the original post… did you get this meme from Glen Beck (Rush Limbaugh for people with ADD)?
My initial response-ledger:
What does an expanding population have to do with anything at all? (Well, congratulations. Bush won more popular votes than did any presidential candidate in American history. And John Kerry won the second most number of votes than did any candidate in American history.) Percentage-wise, that statement is a joke.
Sitting Presidents with a larger re-election margin of victory than Bush:
Bill Clinton
Ronald Reagan
Richard Nixon
Lyndon Johnson
Dwight Eisenhower
Harry Truman
Franklin Roosevelt
Franklin Roosevelt
Franklin Roosevelt
Calvin Coolidge
Theodore Roosevelt
William McKinnley
Ulysses Grant
Abraham Lincoln
Andrew Jackson
Smaller margin of victory
Woodrow Wilson
All of which gets some odd reactions.
#1: More proof this list is skewed! Lyndon Johnson was only elected ONCE as president (1964). He took over for Kennedy upon his death in 1963 (elected in 1960). Johnson could have been “RE-ELECTED” as president in 1968, but his polls were so low, he choose not to run. Johnson was “never” re-elected period!!!
This post is agenda driven. It never bothers to take into account the elected presidents who *sought* re-election, but lost the election. But then – this post was never about fairness either.
#2: There are still presidents missing, Like WASHINGTON FOR ONE. Besides’ with old’ abe, and Grant, 1/3 of the white male population, coun’t even vote, plus Woman and blacks. President Bush on the other hand did better with woman,blacks and younger voters then any GOP president in years.
#3: What about the presidents who ran for a 2nd term – AND LOST??? Where are they – and why were they not counted? Surely they received less of a percentage then Bush!
Or could it be that this counting is skewed just to “try” and make Bush look bad???
Teddy Roosevelt ran severals times and lost. Why was he not included? Why not Carter? Why not Bush, Sr?
This person has a lot of names missing!!!
John Quincy Adams: was selected over Andrew Jackson in 1824.
Andrew Jackson: defeated John Quincy Adams in 1828.
Martin Van Buren: defeated William Henry Harrison in 1836.
William Henry Harrison: defeated Martin van Buren in 1840.
Benjamin Harrison: defeated Grover Cleveland in 1888.
Grover Cleveland: defeated Benjamin Harrison in 1892.
Millard Fillmore was defeated in 1856 by James Buchanan.
Theodore Roosevelt was defeated in 1912 by Woodrow Wilson.
Anyway… Responding is difficult…
:More proof this list is skewed! Lyndon Johnson was only elected ONCE as president (1964).
Truman, Coolidge, and Theodore Roosevelt — all on my list — share that same problem. I suppose I could have left out “re-elected” and let “sitting president” tell the story.
: There are still presidents missing, Like WASHINGTON FOR ONE. Besides’ with old’ abe, and Grant, 1/3 of the white male population, coun’t even vote, plus Woman and blacks. President Bush on the other hand did better with woman,blacks and younger voters then any GOP president in years.
So, Evangeline: How many popular votes did Presidents Washington through Monroe receive? (And name the Amendment to the Constitution that made popular vote in states matter… though not enough, since I have yet to vote for a Democrat or Republican for President.)
Fancy, though. Bush appears to have done better with any demographic group an average of about 3% than he did in 2000…
: This post is agenda driven. It never bothers to take into account the elected presidents who *sought* re-election, but lost the election. But then – this post was never about fairness either.
You’re cracking me up. Recall the statement that this post was a response to… Reagan had a wider margin of victory than Bush… a statement that is absurd on it’s face.
More here