More people voted this time?

[Donald Aquilano]

Sadly the answer is no.......

2004:
Bush - 62,039,572
Kerry - 59,027,453
Total - 121,067,025

2008:
McCain - 56,741,774
Obama - 64,424,892
Total - 120,849,784

As you can see Bush/Kerry got more votes in 2004 than McCain/Obama did in 2008. I thought we were supposed to have record turnout? Didn't happen.

[draggar]

Wow. In Broward county roughly 65%-75% of registered voters voted which is a lot higher than it normally is.

But, I think I'll have to disagree with that, at least for my area. In 2004 we had no lines for early voting and no lines at the polls but in 2008 average wait time for either was 2 hours, I don't think we had that much of a population spike in 4 years.

Plus, what about other candidates? It seems that they didn't get a lot of support in 2004 but seemed to have a lot more in 2008 - those numbers aren't added in.

[Raider]

Wow is right!...

This is really surprising, considering all the hype that Obama was this "Master" of getting the vote out.

[Banned: theinvestor]

Republicans like Raider stayed home

[CureCancer]

I thought people did vote, a bit shocked to see the numbers lower then 2004

[Acro]

Ah, the old game of interpreting numbers the way it suits your argument

But you don't take into consideration the following parameters:

1. The shift in numbers from Republican to Democrat.
2. The shift in demographics with regards to voting per race (Hispanics shifted to Democrat en masse)
3. The fact that the voting population did not change much in 4 years, taking into account those that passed away and those that were introduced into the voting pool, probably a "plus" of less than a couple of hundred thousand.

So, are you looking for clues? It's in the 5.5 million gain in Democrats since 2004 and the whopping 5.7 loss in Republican voters since the last election.

Dubya delivered this election to Obama on a dish

More info here.

[Carter]

Ah, the old game of interpreting numbers the way it suits your argument

But you don't take into consideration the following parameters:

1. The shift in numbers from Republican to Democrat.
2. The shift in demographics with regards to voting per race (Hispanics shifted to Democrat en masse)
3. The fact that the voting population did not change much in 4 years, taking into account those that passed away and those that were introduced into the voting pool.

So, are you looking for clues? It's in the 5.5 million gain in Democrats since 2004 and the whopping 5.7 loss in Republican voters since the last election.

Dubya delivered this election to Obama on a dish

More info: http://www.fivethirtyeight.com

Perfect analysis.
And the thread is closed LOL

[Donald Aquilano]

Wow is right!...

This is really surprising, considering all the hype that Obama was this "Master" of getting the vote out.

Actually I think there are three reasons for the lower turnout......

1) Many conservatives didn't back McCain. For years he stabed them in the back and sided with Democrats. Many were not in a forgiving mood.

2) Obama ran a good campaign. He got his base out. McCain never really did.

3) Many people didn't see much difference in the two parties. There was no viable third party option. So many decided not to vote.

[Acro]

Math 101 is not enough when dealing with polling and trends. You need to have taken classes in Statistics and Social Economics.

[Raider]

Actually I think there are three reasons for the lower turnout......

1) Many conservatives didn't back McCain. For years he stabed them in the back and sided with Democrats. Many were not in a forgiving mood.

2) Obama ran a good campaign. He got his base out. McCain never really did.

3) Many people didn't see much difference in the two parties. There was no viable third party option. So many decided not to vote.

I agree on all 3, But when you consider how bad a candidate McCain was for the Republican party and how poorly his campaign was run, I would think the popular vote would be a much bigger margin.

Republicans like Raider stayed home

And Canadians like you who couldn't vote were just spectators.

I voted alright.... We may not of won the Presidency, but the important propositions that effect our State, we did WIN.

[randomo]

I agree on all 3, But when you consider how bad a candidate McCain was for the Republican party and how poorly his campaign was run, I would think the popular vote would be a much bigger margin.

I look at it this way:

In any presidential election, just by default (from party-line voters), the Republican and Democratic candidates will each get about 40% of the vote. (Walter Mondale got 40.6% of the vote vs. Reagan, so that looks like a reasonable minimum. )

Since the popular vote in this one was 52% for Obama and 46% for McCain, that means Obama got about twice as many of the "up for grabs" voters as McCain did (12% to 6%). This is what I view as his true margin of victory - a 2 to 1 ratio.

[Banned: theinvestor]

And Canadians like you who couldn't vote were just spectators.

Just because i am canadian does not mean i did not vote.

Do not make assumptions.

[draggar]

I'm still trying to find out how the other candidates did, it wasn't just those two running but no one seems to be reporting how they did - like everyone in the US (who did vote) only voted for McCain or Obama, which I know is not true.

In past years they showed how they did (even in 2004) but for some reason they aren't this year.

[Donald Aquilano]

I'm still trying to find out how the other candidates did, it wasn't just those two running but no one seems to be reporting how they did - like everyone in the US (who did vote) only voted for McCain or Obama, which I know is not true.

In past years they showed how they did (even in 2004) but for some reason they aren't this year.

Fox has an interactive map that tells you how people voted......

Third party:
Ralph Nader - 665,226 0.54%
Bob Barr - 492,749 0.4%
Chuck Baldwin - 176,972 0.14%
Total - 1,334,947 1.08%

Your home state......

Florida:
Obama - 4,130,898 50.85%
McCain - 3,930,143 48.39%
Ralph Nader - 27,297 0.33%
Bob Barr - 16,699 0.2%
Chuck Baldwin - 7,673 0.09%

[cleverlyslick]

Sadly the answer is no.......

2004:
Bush - 62,039,572
Kerry - 59,027,453
Total - 121,067,025

2008:
McCain - 56,741,774
Obama - 64,424,892
Total - 120,849,784

As you can see Bush/Kerry got more votes in 2004 than McCain/Obama did in 2008. I thought we were supposed to have record turnout? Didn't happen.

the math for the 2008 total votes is off.the if you add both of them up it's
121,166,666 total votes.

[Hurley4540]

the math for the 2008 total votes is off.the if you add both of them up it's
121,166,666 total votes.

+rep (if there is one? dont see it)

[Banned: theinvestor]

Current total is :

Obama - 64,639,861
McCain - 56,899,539

Total - 121,539,400

[Raider]

Just because i am canadian does not mean i did not vote.

Do not make assumptions.

Since your .com's are registered in Ontario Canada, I think it's SAFE to assume you didn't.

[Banned: theinvestor]

I have a dual citizenship.

Thanks for coming out though.

[Raider]

I have a dual citizenship.

Thanks for coming out though.

Yeah, right.