[I approved this tripe]
I should keep a tally of the number of ads I see or hear between april and november of an election year. it would be in the thousands. if yard signs and bumper stickers are included, the number jumps to the tens of trillions.
BUT today marks the end of the dreaded election ad season! this one was particularly nasty, so tomorrow the sun should shine particularly brightly.
some of the polls are in, badnarik seems not to be doing so well ... perhaps the sun will not be shining so brightly tomorrow? MICHAEL BADNARIK you've had my vote since last friday, I hope it's the one that breaks the duopoly's back and crowns you president.
the results page refreshes unbearably slowly. it is unbearably slow. we want the answer now, dammit.
the electoral college system currently in place in america allows for some interesting results, e.g. in the last election when al gore won the popular vote but not the election. so that got me thinking about just how few votes it would take to win an election, assuming every american citizen can and does vote. I've been working some figures, and here are the results:
say Candidate A won the states (North Carolina, Virginia, Massachusetts, Indiana, Washington, Tennessee, Missouri, Wisconsin, Maryland, Arizona, Minnesota, Louisiana, Alabama, Colorado, Kentucky, South Carolina, Oklahoma, Oregon, Connecticut, Iowa, Mississippi, Kansas, Arkansas, Utah, Nevada, New Mexico, West Virginia, Nebraska, Idaho, Maine, New Hampshire, Hawaii, Rhode Island, Montana, Delaware, South Dakota, North Dakota, Alaska, Vermont, DC, and Wyoming) with half-the-votes-plus-one in each (so it's the barest of majorities). because Candidate A won the popular vote in these states, Candidate A would get 270 electoral votes and would win the election. in all other states, Candidate A does not receive a single vote, and the electoral votes from the other states go to Candidate B. Candidate B receives 268 electoral votes and loses the election.
in the states listed above, there is a rough total of 122800000 voters, and the same number of votes for Candidate A (by assumption). half of this number is 61400000.
according to a july 2003 count, there are roughly 281420000 people in the u.s.
what percent voted for Candidate A? the number is less than 22%. fewer than one in four people in the country voted for Candidate A, who still wins the election. talk about a supramajority.
glued to the screen,
-matt.
BUT today marks the end of the dreaded election ad season! this one was particularly nasty, so tomorrow the sun should shine particularly brightly.
some of the polls are in, badnarik seems not to be doing so well ... perhaps the sun will not be shining so brightly tomorrow? MICHAEL BADNARIK you've had my vote since last friday, I hope it's the one that breaks the duopoly's back and crowns you president.
the results page refreshes unbearably slowly. it is unbearably slow. we want the answer now, dammit.
the electoral college system currently in place in america allows for some interesting results, e.g. in the last election when al gore won the popular vote but not the election. so that got me thinking about just how few votes it would take to win an election, assuming every american citizen can and does vote. I've been working some figures, and here are the results:
say Candidate A won the states (North Carolina, Virginia, Massachusetts, Indiana, Washington, Tennessee, Missouri, Wisconsin, Maryland, Arizona, Minnesota, Louisiana, Alabama, Colorado, Kentucky, South Carolina, Oklahoma, Oregon, Connecticut, Iowa, Mississippi, Kansas, Arkansas, Utah, Nevada, New Mexico, West Virginia, Nebraska, Idaho, Maine, New Hampshire, Hawaii, Rhode Island, Montana, Delaware, South Dakota, North Dakota, Alaska, Vermont, DC, and Wyoming) with half-the-votes-plus-one in each (so it's the barest of majorities). because Candidate A won the popular vote in these states, Candidate A would get 270 electoral votes and would win the election. in all other states, Candidate A does not receive a single vote, and the electoral votes from the other states go to Candidate B. Candidate B receives 268 electoral votes and loses the election.
in the states listed above, there is a rough total of 122800000 voters, and the same number of votes for Candidate A (by assumption). half of this number is 61400000.
according to a july 2003 count, there are roughly 281420000 people in the u.s.
what percent voted for Candidate A? the number is less than 22%. fewer than one in four people in the country voted for Candidate A, who still wins the election. talk about a supramajority.
glued to the screen,
-matt.
2 very splendid and worthwhile comment(s):
I've always done this kind of figuring in my head but I never looked up the numbers. That you for letting me feed on my thirst for statistics.
I'm glued to the TV too, and I think I will sit here and(finally) answer the dear dan questions that I have long neglected (totally forgot about).
although your calculations would be wasted on her, i'd have to agree with Paris Hilton, "wow, that's hot."
do not post a comment (or not).
do not go home (the grass is always greener).