Trump.45 has faced his first real voting test after his enormous Victory in 2016, and the amazing Benefits he has conferred on America since November 8, 2016, while he has been in charge. Jobs, the Economy, the Stock Market, new China Trade Deal, easy Middle East Peace, the Defanging of North Korea, his Love Match with Putin, the Big Beautiful Wall built, Muslims banned, Obama Care repealed and replaced. I could go on and on, but you know the indelible list.
Vote totals can be compared to one another by means of raw numbers, deltas, and percentages, globally or by categories. Let’s keep it simple. Let’s look at the total national actual vote totals between Trump (Republicans) and Democrats (with and without Clinton) in 2016 and 2018.
To provide an honest independent frame of reference let’s also provide the gold standard for total votes in favor of an American President in U.S. History. Sad to say, that singular honor belongs to Barack Obama. Drats Squared! But Facts is Facts.
Also for these purposes we will ignore the impact of the growing U.S population each year, which if properly adjusted for would increase the value of vote totals from before 2018.
For example, total U.S. population in 2012 was 314 million; in 2016 it was 323.4 (growth of 9.4 million since 2012); and in 2018 it was 327.6 million (growth of 4.2 million from 2016). Overall, the U.S. population grew by 13.6 million or 4.3% since 2012 when Obama was re-elected.
To be completely fair and balanced, we should adjust Obama’s numbers upward by 4.3% to compare Apples to Apples, but let’s leave the correction out. It will be more favorable to the hyper-competitive Trump.45’s position that way.
Here goes:
2018
To be clear, although this was a Midterm Election and Trump.45 was not officially on the ballot, all 435 House seats (every last Federal district in the entire United States) was. So the totals represent the entire electorate, not a partial selection like the Senate or Governorship races. America has just had a true National popular vote. No estimates or fudging needed.
As Trump.45 trumpeted so often during his Pre-election Rally Blitzkrieg, his name wasn’t on the ballot but the vote was for and about him, explicitly. Therefore, Republican = Trump. That’s Plain and Simple.
Total National Vote (2018) Midterm Elections:
U.S. Total Popular Vote: 107,561,430
Democrats: 57,781,274 (53.7%)
Trump: 49,780,156 (45.5%)
Trump’s Losers Edge: 8,001,118
Based on the latest results from the nonpartisan Cook Reports 2018 House Popular Vote Tracker.
2016
In 2016, Americans were treated to the Massive Victory achieved by Trump.45. Herewith the actual popular vote numbers, with his name directly on the ballot nationwide.
Total National Vote (2016) Presidential Election:
U.S. Total Popular Vote: 128,838,342
Democrats: 65,853,514 (48.2%)
Trump: 62,984,828 (46.1%)
Trump’s Losers Edge: 2,868,686
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_presidential_election,_2016
http://time.com/4608555/hillary-clinton-popular-vote-final/
2012 (For comparison purposes)
Total National Vote (2012) Presidential Election:
U.S. Total Popular Vote: 126,849,299
Democrats (Obama): 65,915,795 (51.5%)
Republicans (Romney): 60,933,504 (47.2%)
Republicans Loser’s Edge: 4,982,291
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_presidential_election,_2012
What to Make of These Results
Put in Plain English, Trump.45 is accelerating backwards, after two glorious years running the show with control of all three executive and legislative components. Unified power, until November 6, 2018 that is.
Trump.45 burst on the scene and Republicans lost by 2.87 million votes in 2016. Now in 2018 Trump.45 has lost by 8.0 million votes. This is surely progress of a sort, in High Speed Reverse Gear.
He has increased the Republican losing margin by 5.13 million popular votes, That is, he has more than doubled the losing margin. In fact, nearly tripled it (2,78 times). He gave us this golden performance in the limited time of just 22 months of his Gloriously Fruitful Administration.
At this rate, Republicans won’t need to show up on Election Day 2120; they can just turn over the Keys to the incoming Democratic Administration.
This is the Loser’s Edge Difference between wishing and boasting, hoping and Real Life facts of Trump.45’s self-proclaimed, almost completely successful Midterm Strategy.
What a Bubble He Lives In.
The people spoke on Election Night 2018, and their tune was sour for Republicans. Were it not for the past decade of spectacular gerrymandering success for their party, the preliminary total of 36 net seat losses in the U.S. House would have been much, much worse. Even so, the drubbing is the worst since 1974.
Summary
Barack Obama (2012) received the largest popular vote ever garnered in a U.S. Presidential election. The second highest popular vote total ever won by a candidate for President was Hillary Clinton (2016). Trump.45 lags in a poor third place finish behind his two most hated rivals.
The Trump.45 Loser’s Margin increased from 2.9 million votes in 2016 to more than 8 million two weeks ago. Even feckless Romney (2012) only lost by 5.0 million votes nation wide, much better than Trump.45’s recent updated performance.
Completely Wrong Direction, Donny Boy! More than the House is at risk for Republicans in future. It will take more than a Twit storm or two from On High to fix this mess.
Explanation of Title Themes
The XX factor in play reflects the incontestable fact that Women in America have turned on Trump.45. His support among White Males hasn’t changed very much. But Women (genetically the XX Factor) have abandoned the Republican party in droves, cascades, and floods. Look no further than Orange County California, where there is not a single Republican standing after the 2018 Huge massacre. In 2016, Republicans held four of the six congressional seats in the county, as they have for decades.
This is Trump.45’s toxic effect on Orange County, the birthplace of Ronald Reagan’s Republican revolution and the spiritual home of conservatism since 1966. Four bitter Republican Oranges fell from the tree in 2018.
John Wayne may not spinning in his grave, but the concrete runways at his eponymous Airport (Santa Ana, CA) are cracking.
As usual, women voted in greater numbers than men across the nation in 2018, just as they have for several cycles. So, the narrow path to future success is that Republicans must figure out how to stem the permanent loss of women’s support. Think they can do that with Trump.45 and his acolytes calling the shots?
As for shrinkage, we refer to smaller occupied voting space, hence a larger Loser’s Margin. The reference (slightly NSFW) is of course to the iconic Seinfeld moment at the Beach when George’s shrunken endowment is unexpectedly observed after George takes a dip in the Pool and the expected biological reaction to the nether regions takes hold., to the amusement of Jerry’s girlfriend. Men can relate; Women just smile.
If you’re an adult and haven’t seen the episode, watch it. If you have seen it, it’s worth another watch for 3:45 of wicked humor and male humiliation.
From the Wikipedia entry for “The Hamptons”:
“The Hamptons” is the 85th episode of the NBC sitcom Seinfeld. This was the 21st episode for the fifth season. It aired on May 12, 1994. This was the final produced episode of the fifth season, although it aired as the penultimate episode of the season.
The four principal characters travel to the Hamptons to see a baby; they find that the baby is altogether ugly. While on the beach, Kramer finds a filled lobster trap and thinks the catch is his, unaware that it’s a commercial lobster trap. George’s girlfriend (Melora Walters) goes sun tanning topless while he goes out to get tomatoes, and George is inadvertently seen naked by Jerry’s girlfriend Rachel (Melanie Smith, who reappears in this episode after Jerry gave his father kishka to atone for his behavior in The Raincoats), to whom he tries in vain to explain that, having just gotten out of the cold water, he is a victim of penile “shrinkage” by yelling “I was in the pool!”
Elaine is thrilled to be described as “breathtaking” by a doctor (guest star Richard Burgi) until she finds he uses the same adjective to describe the baby. Rachel tells George’s girlfriend about his “shrinkage” and she leaves. At breakfast, George gets revenge on Rachel by tricking her into eating lobster-filled scrambled eggs, which is not kosher. When he goes to apologize, he sees her naked. Kramer then gets arrested for lobster poaching and must pick up garbage on the side of the road as a means of community service. On the way home (minus Kramer), the gang stop at a tomato stall, where Rachel promptly throws a tomato at George.
The episode has been credited with giving “new meaning to the word ‘shrinkage'”. Seinfeld writer Peter Mehlman took credit for introducing the word, with apparently enthusiastic approval from Larry David (conversely, Mehlman gave David credit for “sponge-worthy”, the catchword from The Sponge). The word was later used in a Budweiser commercial and cited as a testament to the show’s influence.
The difference is that George Costanza exhibits the acute embarrassment and shame such an event would have on any normal male. In Trump.45’s case in 2018, he just doesn’t get it.
Republican Flight to Nowhere Out of Orange County (2018)
Final Note
All of this suggests a new slogan suggestion for Trump.45’s incessant promotion of his 2020 ambitions. It may be time for Trump.45 to jettison his shameless rip-off of Ronald Reagan’s official 1980 Presidential Campaign Slogan, “Let’s Make America Great Again”.
Here is a genuine original suggestion for Trump 2020:
The More You See, The Less You Like
Finally here is a slogan Based in Reality, and already approved by majority national vote in America.