Obama v Romney, Election 2012, Mandate? Landslide?

Cultural Forensics would like to congratulate President Obama on his reelection. 

While sometimes we question his judgment - we think he should be moving more aggressively into the efficient use of renewable and sustainable energy, and away from fuel - and waste - based systems, and we think the citizens of the United States would be better served if the Veterans Health Administration was transformed into a Citizens Health Administration and if Medicare was expanded to cover all Americans - we also think that President Obama is an intelligent and thoughtful person who looks at the evidence before making a decision.

We also draw a distinction between questioning the President's judgement and criticizing a decision, and hoping the President fails. When the President fails, America fails. As patriotic Americans, we want the President to succeed so America can succeed.

Pres. Obama won by a greater margin in the popular vote and the Electoral College than Pres. Bush. The results in 2012 were: Obama: 65,138,059 to Romney 60,606,054, or 50.9% to 47.4%. In 2004, the results were Bush: 62,040,610 to Kerry 59,028,494, or 50.7% to 48.3%. In the Electoral College Obama won by 126 votes, 332 to 206, while Bush won 286 to 251, by 35 votes. So if Bush won a "Mandate" then Obama won a mandate.

2004 Election	Popular Vote	PV %	Electoral College
Bush	62,040,610	50.7	286
Kerry	59,028,494	48.3	251
Difference	3,012,116	2.4	35
2012 Election	Popular Vote	PV %	Electoral College
Obama	65,138,059	50.9	332
Romney	60,606,054	47.4	206
Difference	4,532,005	3.5	126

But put another way, had Kerry won Florida and Virginia, then he would have won the Electoral College. Like Kerry, Romney would have needed Florida and Virginia. He also would have needed, for example Pennsylvania and Michigan or Wisconsin.

And Romney and Ryan lost their home states!  That's may not be a landslide defeat - but then again it's a resounding defeat of their politics!