[Mad_Tom_Rackham]

My point, friend, is that continuous population growth makes absolute numbers in elections meaningless over time. The same is true with currency inflation. For example, Congress authorized a salary for the President of the United States of $25,000 in 1789.

In the 2004 election (November numbers), Bush garnered 61.9 million votes (51% of those voting) while Kerry garnered 37.6 million votes (48% of those voting). A total of 122.0 million votes were cast.

However,

In the 1984 election, Reagan garnered 54.5 million votes (59% of those voting) while Mondale garnered 37.6 million votes (41% of those voting). And a total of 92.7 million votes were cast.

So, this means that 29.3 million more votes were cast in the 2004 election than in the 1984 election, and this is assuredly due to population increase (sorry, I don't have statistics as to the actual percentage population increase between 1984 and 2004). There is no way that GW in 2004 was that much more popular than RR in 1984. Don't forget, RR won 525 EV's to Mondale's 13 EV's!

I don't have time to do the research, but percentage wise, Bush won a sqeaker (thanks be to God!), but Reagan won a landlside. So let's get off the "GW won more votes than RR" schtick. It's pure hogwash.

[calreaganfan]

"I don't have time to do the research, but percentage wise, Bush won a sqeaker (thanks be to God!), but Reagan won a landlside. So let's get off the "GW won more votes than RR" schtick. It's pure hogwash."

You're completely missing the point. Of course I realize that eventually, due to population growth, Pres. Reagan's popular vote record would be broken. I'm merely pointing out that it's remarkable that Pres. Bush broke Reagan's record by nearly 8 million votes even though Pres. Bush received 8% less of the popular vote (51% vs. 59%). The growth in the voting-age population (VAP) over the last 20 years is not sufficient to account for this feat. What accounts for Pres. Bush's record-breaking popular vote total of over 62 million votes is the HUGE turnout of the Republican base who were inspired by Pres. Bush's leadership through adversity. This is reflected in the percent of the VAP who turned out in 2004 as compared to 1984. In 2004, the voter turnout was close to 60% of VAP. In 1984, the turnout was only 53.1% of VAP. Pres. Bush inspired the biggest voter turnout since 1968. When you consider the fact that 18-to-21 year-olds (who have the lowest voter turnout) were not allowed to vote prior to 1972, the VAP turnout for Pres. Bush in 2004 is even more remarkable.