The US Election

[Demetrius]

Question is whether a candidate like that could actually win the republican primary. Plenty of rough times before that, will be interesting to see how the US will wrestle with their problems, as mentioned earlier in this thread - Congress stays at it is; it will need some kind of genuine bipartizan effort.

well, good night/morning, off to bed, too.

[gingerjon]

According to the votes counted so far (less the 3 states still to declare) Obama has 50.9m and 50.7 went Rmoney.

So there are two things to learn: firstly, of those who voted there really wasn't much to choose between them. The Electoral College skews that a bit.

The other thing is that America has about 230m people of voting age in it. Obama has the support of between 1/4 and 1/5 of them.

[Dave2002]

Phew! I slept thrugh it all. Daley got it wrong!

gingerjon: The electoral college system may present problems, but I suspect they're not greatly different from the "problems" we have in the UK, where there are so many safe seats. You wouldn't expect campaigners not to exploit the system they work in, would you?

Re the representation of 1/4 to 1/5 of eligible voters, is that based on turnout figures? I've not heard yet.

Would you really want to live in a country (not the USA) where the president was "supported" by more than 90% of voters?

[antongould]

According to the votes counted so far (less the 3 states still to declare) Obama has 50.9m and 50.7 went Rmoney.

So there are two things to learn: firstly, of those who voted there really wasn't much to choose between them. The Electoral College skews that a bit.

The other thing is that America has about 230m people of voting age in it. Obama has the support of between 1/4 and 1/5 of them.

Intriguing Maths on that basis what % of the UK electorate support Mr. Cameron?

[teamsaint]

Intriguing Maths on that basis what % of the UK electorate support Mr. Cameron?

AG, the question surely is "what proportion of the banks support Cameron" ?!

[antongould]

AG, the question surely is "what proportion of the banks support Cameron" ?!

Quite possibly and by that measure a lot more than 1/4 to 1/5 !!

[kernelbogey]

The BBC website has Obama as the victor. Phew!

Agreed, Pabs: phew indeed!

[Dave2002]

Quite possibly and by that measure a lot more than 1/4 to 1/5 !!

Straight numbers don't always work. Maybe a fuzzy logic approach would capture the real behaviour better. Another approach might be a weighted average.

I don't think you can really work out what people think - but elections simply provide a mechanism for allowing one person, or group or party to gain more or less control [or not, in some cases!].

[Nick Armstrong]

Few finer sights I imagine than Janet Daley looking disappointed - I can dream, can't I?

Have you seen it yet?

[french frank]

Would you really want to live in a country (not the USA) where the president was "supported" by more than 90% of voters?

This is the 'UK' argument: you need an electoral system that gives a decisive result (heh, heh). The elected government can then do what it wants during its term in office but if the popular vote is that close it won't be hard to turf them out at the next election. Not necessarily a recipe for stable policy.

[amateur51]

Have you seen it yet?

Gosh it's unusual to see such a shade of purple outside the environs of Peter Jones' furnishing fabric department

[amateur51]

Childish of me I know but I do love it when 'the experts' and the pollsters all get it wrong. How much of it was down to flawed method and how much down to individuals telling porkies, I wonder

Walk in the park, President Obama! Congratulations!

[scottycelt]

Barack says the next four years is going to be even better than the last four ...

[Dave2002]

This is the 'UK' argument: you need an electoral system that gives a decisive result (heh, heh). The elected government can then do what it wants during its term in office but if the popular vote is that close it won't be hard to turf them out at the next election. Not necessarily a recipe for stable policy.

I was thinking of some countries a bit like Zimbabwe, and some of the Eastern countries. Don't they support their presidents 110%?

[amateur51]

Barack says the next four years is going to be even better than the last four ...

Sounds good to me!

Such cynicism in one so young, scotty