Letters to the Editor
The Outsider
Published Letters: 1
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The Reality of Presidential Politics for Democrats
[Read the article: How to interpret a dead-even horse race]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Democrats who think that this election should or will be won easily need to reassess and work a lot harder. Recent presidential election history suggests that presidential elections are the Republicans' to lose. In the last ten presidential elections, Democrats have won only three times. Carter's was a squeaker, and Clinton's were hardly landslides.
By contrast, the GOP candidate has twice won 49 of the 50 states during that time. No Democrat realistically has a chance to do that unless he/she figures out a way to compete in Utah, Wyoming, Mississippi, the Dakotas, and the large swath of other states that vote almost routinely and reflexively for the Republican ticket. Democrats generally need to win almost all the states where they can compete. California and New York have become much friendlier in recent years, but Illinois, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Florida still remain potentially competitive, even today.
So being tied is probably good news at this point, before the battle is fully engaged. Normally, one would expect the Republican to be ahead. But no Democrat will win the Presidency just because the Republicans have totally messed things up, regardless of how bad things get.