After Trump won in 2016, he referred to his win -with 306 EC votes - as a “landslide” and a “massive win”. In the years since then I have also seen his supporters on this forum refer to his win in the same terms. If Biden wins PA, GA, AZ and NV, he will have exactly the same victory by my count. So that must mean it will be a landslide win for Joe. Right?
Biden winning the popular vote in addition to the electoral college will make his victory even more landslidier than Trump's 2016 win.
Not the same. Hillary was expected to trounce Trump so any win by Trump would have been considered a landslide. Biden was predicted to trounce Trump also and he isn't so it isn't a landslide. Landslides have to do with expectations not the actual number of votes.
You are thinking of an "Upset" victory. A landslide victory is by margins - not whether it is an unexpected victory.
Nope they are essentially the same thing in elections. An upset is just winning over someone who is favored whereas a landslide is pulling off the seemingly impossible. The republicans upset the democrats overall in this election and did extremely well, the presidency is only a part of it.
My understanding is that a landslide simply means large, not necessarily unexpected: A landslide victory is an election result in which the victorious candidate or party wins by an overwhelming margin (source) That being said, they're just words, as long as the distinction is clear, or the distinction doesn't matter, I'm happy. For the purposes of this thread, I imagine the OP is referring to quotes where the victory is by a big margin, rather than unexpected.
This was super close, true the electoral numbers will be high but those margins are SO close. Both sides need to take a good hard look at things. Biden was suppose to win by a blowout, instead Trump got MORE votes then he got the first time. The winds of change are blowing and Trump may have lost this round but his grip on American politics may be just tightening. If he can translate even 30% of that into supporters he will decide who runs in two years for the house and four for President. It is not beyond reasoning that we could see a different less crude Trump on the ballots in the near future.
Exactly. And what I’m really doing is mocking Trump. It would be deliciously ironic if the EC victory he called a landslide in 2016 was repeated exactly, but in the opposite direction in 2020. If he, by his own words, won in a landslide in 16, he loses by a landslide in 20.
Some thoughts: I don't think there was any real doubt that Biden would win the popular vote. Only one person bet me on that, but they reneged. As far the EC goes, however, several states that Biden has won/is winning are being won by a slim margin. He may end up with more than 300 electoral votes (likely will), but we have to recognize how close some of those states were, just a we did for Trump. Frankly, if it weren't for COVID, Trump probably would have won. I think both sides need to learn something from that.
I never said a landslide but noted he won 30 states to Clintons 20+DC. This is going to be MUCH closer it appears. I assume you never claimed Trump won in a landslide will you claim Biden did especially in the loses and lack of that blue wave for the Dems?
And since the states elect the President the shear number of states Trump won versus Biden, and then the loses in the House and one gain in the Senate when it was expected the Dems would have huge gains.
The "number of states" don't determine the President any more than the popular vote does. If the popular vote doesn't matter, then neither does the number of states. Meanwhile, you didn't actually address anything I said.
No I don’t think either is a landslide. I would just enjoy the delicious irony if he lost in 2020 by exactly the same margin by which he won in 2016 - and which he claimed was a historic landslide.
Well you have to win the states to win their electoral votes and the more you win the better you stand and it shows how many states support you versus those that don't, and it is the STATES that elect the President. Popular votes matter in each of the states, in each state election the popular vote matters. So Trump won the popular votes in 30 states compared to Clintons 20+DC. It appears Trump and Biden will both close on that. I didn't bet you on anything so it didn't apply to me. I recognize that lots of states were close margins and not the Biden blow out that was expected is that what you are talking about?
I think it is very possible we will see a Pence/Harris contest in 2024. I also think it possible we see the Republicans take the House in 2022 and increase their margins in the Senate. The Democrats can try to put lipstick on this pig but reality is reality.
