Writing at RealClearPolitics, the delightfully named Sean Trende reformulates the rule and carries it back a century:
"There are only seven sitting presidents who have ever received less than 60 percent of the vote in any primary: Taft in '12; Coolidge, '24; Hoover, '32; LBJ, '68; Ford '76; Carter, '80; and Bush '92. All of these presidents, with the exception of Coolidge, were not re-elected."
One of Coolidge's challengers, Robert LaFollette, ran a third-party challenge. He ended up with 16.5% of the nationwide popular vote and carried his home state, Wisconsin....
... actually, there's an eighth sitting president who received less than 60% in a primary--in more than one, in fact. That would be Obama in '12, who, as Trende points out, received just 58.4% in Arkansas, 57.9% in Kentucky, 57.1% in Oklahoma and 59.4% in West Virginia. In Kentucky, his main opponent was "Uncommitted," another name for Nobody.OBAMA GOT LESS THAN 60% IN 4 PRIMARY CONTESTS - AND NONE WERE AGAINST A CANDIDATE OF ANY RENOWN.
ERGO: UNLESS SOMEONE MOUNTS A THIRD PARTY RUN AS CREDIBLY AS LAFOLLETTE OR PEROT, THEN OBAMA IS GOING TO DEMOLISHED BY ROMNEY.
GOOD RIDDANCE.
Hi Relia.
ReplyDeleteWith all due respect, do you really believe he will just walk away if loosing the elections?......I don't think so.Any 'normal' person would, but we're not dealing with a normal person.
of course he will.
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