One person. One vote.
I work with statistics on a daily basis. I look at all kinds of data for students. We look at standardized test scores, achievement scores, benchmark testing, Then, we look at data from diagnosticians, LSSPs, specialists, curriculum coaches, and occasional outside experts. Then, when I go home I pour through comprehensive baseball statistics and football statistics. Then, yesterday I was perusing X, Twitter, or whatever the hell it wants to be called today.
Biden won 477 counties
Trump won 2,497 countiesWho do you think won the election?
Something isn’t adding up.
— Brigitte Gabriel (@ACTBrigitte) August 21, 2023
We have seen this the past three years in a number of different places. More people attended Trump’s rallies. More people have Trump merchandise. People are more enthusiastic Trump supporters than Biden supporters. Trump received more votes in 2020 than he did in 2016. We see this kind of logic from sports fans. My team gained more yards than their team. My team had more hits and baserunners than their team. My team had a better shooting percentage than their team. These things may be true and often are. They prove nothing. It is the final score that matters. Certainly, secondary numbers can inform our strategy moving forward, but could you imagine Philadelphia Eagles fans suggesting they really won the Super Bowl because of some obscure stat they led in? It’s pure madness.
Historically, we saw an extreme version of the above. England used to use a system known as virtual representation. Voting districts didn’t change, so there were literally places where there were no people, yet those places had a representative. They were called rotten boroughs. This system even played a role in the coming revolution in the Americas. Ironically, we are getting close to that today. Harris county has nearly five million residents. Loving county in west Texas has 58 people as of 2023. In Brigette’s world they are the same. We’ve all seen electoral map where seemingly the entire country is painted red with the exception of the major cities. Land doesn’t vote. People vote. If you take away the red paint from the areas that don’t have people then we notice how much the map turns blue.
California has more than 38 million people as of 2023. Connecticut has 3.6 million people and ranks 29th in population. If you add together states 30 through 50 you wind up pretty close to the population of California. California has two senators. Those states get 40 combined. The two parties are very much divided along urban and rural lines. Smart sports teams utilize statistics as a way to improve their overall performance. If I’m good at shooting threes then I want to shoot more threes. If I am better at running the football then I want to run the football more. If my bullpen is better than my rotation then I want to maximize my bullpen. These teams don’t zero in on stats to prove they really won. The final score tells us who won. They use those stats to inform their strategy moving forward.
The GOP could use these numbers they are wielding to inform strategy, but instead they are suggesting they really won. Biden couldn’t have won. He didn’t hold big rallies. He didn’t sell a bunch of merch. Smaller counties went for Trump and the map is glowing red. The trouble is that none of these things really matter. Democrats and independents could honestly care less about merch and being more obnoxious than our opponent. We just voted in larger numbers for Joe Biden. It happens when the other candidate is a bloviating jackass.
“…could you imagine Philadelphia Eagles fans suggesting they really won the Super Bowl because of some obscure stat they led in?”
Weeeelllll… Given that there’s a large Eagles fan base in PA Trump territory… 😉
Good essay, Nick! Thanks!
1“Lies, damn lies, . . and statistics”
2If the US didn’t have the Electoral College with its own loop holes, perhaps the attempted coup would not have happened. But I don’t see the Electoral College being abolished in my life time for something more equal, where all votes matter and represent the will of all voters.
3The amount of dirt between voters is more important in the electoral college than the actual number of voters.
4Mark Twain once described someone in the silver mines as “miraculously ignorant”. Brigitte Gabriel seems to be a direct descendent of that fellow.
5Amen, brother! Someday, we may abolish the Electoral College and actually adopt one person, one vote. Republicans will then have to return to sanity, or their party will cease to exist. The country cannot run on crazy for long, no matter how much they want to pretend.
6Sinking ship, meet rats:
https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/donald-trump/witness-trump-docs-case-changed-testimony-switching-lawyers-special-co-rcna101308
7The next time someone pulls out the 477-2500 map, inform them that the roughly 500 counties Biden won are responsible for 71% of the nation’s GDP, while TFG’s 2500 are only responsible for 29%. In other words, the intelligent, creative and hardworking folk are Biden voters.
8Good point 1toughlady. I’d also bet the 500 counties Biden won contribute a similar % of taxes, both state and federal.
9Nick, I’m betting you’re all over 1toughlady’s statistic. I sure hope so anyway, because that’s the kinda ammunition needed against the avalanche of of lies.
10And the only thing I’d change in your great essay is to replace the last 2 words with my favorite Scottish description.
Weasleheaded Fucknugget.
I swear that never gets old.
You can’t fix stupid, and MAGAots are stupid to the bone.
.
For a chuckle, see what happens when a ‘city’ FedEx driver makes a delivery to the S TX country sandpit I live in.
Pulled into the driveway, then rather than backing all the way out back to the road, decided to do a Y on the ‘lawn’. If there was any live vegetation left on the ground it might have worked.
11C’est la vie:
https://us1-photo.nextdoor.com/post_photos/09/50/0950586a4d571f436fd41bc166d7f83a.jpeg
There are people in America, strangely enough, who still believe acreage gets a vote. Once upon a time, when only land owners could vote, it sorta did, but no more.
In other news, most Americans sleep through their high school history classes…
12“And another one bites the dust “. Wagner group (Prigozhin)chiefs plane crashes. High tech “defenestration “.
13Indeed, that plane crash does seem highly convenient for Vladimir Putin. It puts an end to at least one of his major worries, I would think. He’s either remarkably lucky, or up to his old tricks.
14And Putin is the golden maggots hero. That’s who he wants to be when he grows up. He has promised “ Vengeance is his, the heck with the Lord. “ Be very scared.
15George W. Bush met with Russian President Vladimir Putin. “I looked the man in the eye. I found him to be very straightforward and trustworthy,” Bush said. “I was able to get a sense of his soul.”
16I don’t know where Brigette went to school but I suspect she was capable of being a deep snoozer, falling into a galaxy shaking sleep when both Math and History class began.
17worth mentioning progress and prospects for the National Popular Vote Interstate Compact:
https://gdoc.pub/doc/e/2PACX-1vTSTXdJCYB7romfvfCyYSvSCDW2AmAmEYsC8F5gCbKAlDzcoNwsRuTVSfCSJr6vJnVJlcIjnBGK3DTO
18Uh, the 21 states between #30 and #50 have 42 senators.
19