Much has been made of Mitt Romney’s comment that there are 47 percent of the people who will not vote for him. History shows that he is correct in his observation. If one examines the popular vote for all presidential elections from 1960 through 2008, in nine of the 13 elections the winner got 53 percent or less of the popular vote. That means that at least 47 percent voted for a losing candidate. If you lower the standard to 46 percent, 10 of the 13 elections would have the losing candidates reaching that level.
So, Romney’s comment, while rather poorly stated, does reflect the truth. In most presidential elections, the winning margin in the popular vote is rather narrow. The American public seems to like it that way, as it prevents major problems with governmental policy as we have seen after “blow-out” elections like 1964 and 1972. Whether we will admit it or not, the United States usually has a middle of the road government even if we have to elect Representatives and Senators from the extreme edges of the party to maintain the balance.
— Vance Gregory Jr., Wheaton
