Donald Trump Never Had A Mandate From America
Published on
Wednesday, November 08, 2017
by
The Capital Times
Donald Trump Never Had A Mandate From America
Fifty-four percent of Americans rejected Trump's Republican candidacy on
Nov. 8, 2016.
By
John Nichols
"The only way that Trump made it to the presidency was because the United
States allows an Electoral College, which was created more than 230 years
ago to limit popular democracy, to overrule the popular vote."
Betancur/AFP/Gety Images)
Today marks the one-year anniversary of Donald Trump's acute defeat in the
popular voting for president of the United States.
Fifty-four percent of Americans rejected Trump's Republican candidacy on
Nov. 8, 2016. Most of those who could not accept the idea of making Trump
their president chose to vote for his Democratic rival, Hillary Clinton.
Clinton's 2,868,691-vote victory over Trump was one of the largest in
American political history. Her advantage over Trump was larger than
Democrat John Kennedy's over Republican Richard Nixon in 1960, larger than
Republican Nixon's over Democrat Hubert Humphrey in 1968, and larger than
Democrat Jimmy Carter's over Republican Gerald Ford in 1976.
Clinton's advantage was significantly larger than Democrat Al Gore's 540,000
popular-vote victory over Republican George W. Bush in 2000. And it was
roughly parallel to that of Republican Bush's win over Democrat John Kerry
in 2004.
Trump received a lower percentage of the vote than Republican loser Mitt
Romney in 2012 and roughly the same percentage of the vote as Republican
loser John McCain in 2008.
The only way that Trump made it to the presidency was because the United
States allows an Electoral College, which was created more than 230 years
ago to limit popular democracy, to overrule the popular vote.
Trump claimed that his 2016 victory was "the biggest Electoral College win
since Ronald Reagan." Actually, it was one of the smallest: Barack Obama
(twice), Bill Clinton (twice) and George H.W. Bush all did better.
But that was not the only thing that made Trump's election by the Electoral
College unimpressive. The 45th president secured 304 electoral votes to 227
for Clinton, while eight protest votes went to others.
The states generally seen as having given Trump his Electoral College
advantage were a trio that have in recent decades backed Democrats for the
presidency: Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin. But in all three of those
states, the majority of voters rejected Trump.
Trump ran weakest in Wisconsin, collecting just 47 percent of the vote. That
compares with 53 percent for Democrat Barack Obama in 2012 and 56 percent
for Obama in 2008. Among the winners of Wisconsin's electoral votes, Trump
received a lower percentage of the state's popular vote than John Kerry in
2004, Al Gore in 2000, Bill Clinton in 1996, Michael Dukakis in 1988, Ronald
Reagan in 1984 and 1980, Jimmy Carter in 1976, Richard Nixon in 1972 and
1968, Lyndon Johnson in 1964, Richard Nixon in 1960, Dwight Eisenhower in
1956 and 1952, and Harry Truman in 1948.
In only one other state - conservative Utah, where a strong run by
independent Evan McMullin divided the traditional Republican vote - did
Trump finish with a weaker win than in Wisconsin.
That's important for Wisconsinites to recognize going into the 2018 and 2020
elections. Trump has never been particularly popular in Wisconsin, where he
lost the 2016 Republican presidential primary and where his approval rating
is now well below where it stood last Nov. 8.
After NBC polled states across the country in August, the television network
reported: "In Michigan, 36 percent of voters approve of Trump's job
performance (including 19 percent who strongly approve), while 55 percent
disapprove (including 40 percent who strongly do). In Pennsylvania, 35
percent give the president's job a thumbs up (17 percent strongly), versus
54 percent who disapprove (41 percent strongly). And in Wisconsin, 34
percent of voters approve of Trump (17 percent strongly), compared with 56
percent who disapprove (42 percent strongly)."
Poll numbers shift. varying from week to week, from month to month. But as
the headline on a late-summer analysis by the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel of
the president's poll numbers explained: "Donald Trump has squandered chance
to broaden base, increase popularity ."
In fact, Trump's weak numbers of a year ago were the high-water mark for
this president.
Trump's approval rating is now well below the percentage of the vote he
received a year ago - down by as much as 12 points in Wisconsin and by
comparable numbers in Michigan and Pennsylvania.
John Nichols
