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UPDATED Saturday, Nov. 24, 2012 at 11:45 am ET: President Obama ranks ninth among candidates for president in electoral-vote averages since 1896, according to a First Read analysis.
Mitt Romney's 203 EVs puts him 22nd of the 44 candidates who have gotten at least one electoral vote in that 116-year history.
First Read averaged the electoral-vote score of each of the runs for president for each candidate (who got at least one electoral vote).
Ronald Reagan takes the top spot with his average EV score of 507, followed by Lyndon B. Johnson's 486 in 1964 following the assassination of John F. Kennedy.
Franklin Delano Roosevelt is third with his average of 469 across four successful presidential runs. Dwight Eisenhower follows with an average 449.5 across his two campaigns in the 1950s.
Bill Clinton, who comes in at No. 7, edges Obama 374.5 to 348.5.
George W. Bush is 15th with his 278.5, two spots behind his father's average of 297.
Al Gore's 266 lands him at 16; John Kerry's 251 puts him at 19.
John McCain's 173 EVs in 2008 put him at No. 24, tied with Jimmy Carter's average between 1976 and 1980.
Note: Prior to the 1908 election, Alaska, Arizona, Hawaii, New Mexico, and Washington, DC, did not yet count. Oklahoma was first counted in in 1908. In 1912, Arizona and New Mexico were added. Hawaii and Alaska began being counted in 1960. DC came into play for the first time in 1964. In addition, California began getting at least 40 electoral votes in 1964. In the early part of the 1900s, up until the 1930s, California was below 20 EVs. States like New York have been on a steady decline in electoral votes, while states like Florida and Texas have seen a steady increase.
Presidential candidates, ranked by average Electoral College votes
1. Reagan 507
2. LBJ 486
3. FDR 469
4. Eisenhower 449.5
5. Harding 404
6. Coolidge 382
7. Clinton 374.5
8. Wilson 356
9. Obama 348.5
10. Nixon 346.7
11. Truman 303
11. Kennedy 303
13. H.W. Bush 297
14. McKinley 281.5
15. W. Bush 278.5
16. Gore 266
17. Hughes 254
18. Hoover 251.5
19. Kerry 251
20. Ford 240
21. T. Roosevelt 212
22. Romney 203
23. Humphrey 191
24. McCain 173
24. Carter 173
26. Taft 164.5
27. Bryan 164.3
28. Dole 159
29. Dewey 144
30. Parker 140
31. Davis 136
32. Cox 127
33. Dukakis 111
34. Smith 87
35. Wilkie 82
36. Stevenson 81
37. Goldwater 52
38. Wallace 46
39. Thurmond 39
40. McGovern 17
41. Byrd 15
42. Mondale 13
43. LaFollette 13
44. Landon 8
CORRECTION: An earlier version of this post incorrectly noted Harry Truman's Electoral College score. It should be 303 and is corrected above.
Leave a Comment:
Landslide victory for Obama.
"Lazy & ignorant is no way to go through life..." Fiesty you better be careful making such racist comments on this thread. Wasn't it Obama himself in an interview say that he was lazy? Yes it was.
Romney lost jack, get over it.
I find it surprising that Reagan ranked higher than FDR!
Ronald Regan lied straight-faced on TV about the contra deal, yet that didn't register publicly with most Americans to this day - Reagan's Rock Star Status is over-blown, and it suggests something negative about this country's Social Conscience!!
Rah, get a clue, Reagan won ALL states except MN (& District of Columbia). Of course, that is higher than FDR or anyone else. Speaking of lying straight face on the TV, ever heard of the Benghanzi Consulate attack? An Al-Queda Inspired Terrorist Group attack our Consulate and kills a US Ambassador (1st in over 30 years) and despite the fact the Obama Adm knew this was a Terrorists attack in REAL time due to Drones over head. Obama instead blames this on an unknown video, blaming Free Speech on the Internet in the USA. Just like when he blamed "work place violence" for the Fort Hood Terrorist attack. The maker of the video was then sentenced to a year in prison conviently the day AFTER the election, so now we have a President enforcing Sharia Law against innocent civilians.
BTW, the Contra Deal was great, outdated old spare military parts to Iran to ensure a stalement in the Iraq-Iran War to get much needed funds to the Nicaraguan Freedom Figthers on their fight against the Despotic Marxist Regime of the Sandinistas.
The GOP,aremloooooosers
Welcome to,the GOP ice age
You GOP yards,
All your,mothers should have had abortions
fools think because you win your right...!!!!!!
just like o.j and casey anthony and many,many others
roflmaoooooooooooooooooooooooooo
The "free stuff" voters WAS the only thing that prevented Gov. Romney from winning by a "land slide."
Like it or not.....and we will reap the consequences. You included.
The GOP are sore losers,,ha he ho
just wait until the reality of your so-called president ignoring that debt slaps you upside the heads...
smart americans !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
After 6 years,Romney was a poor excuse for a human.Tax evader,out sources loser
Just wait until he strikes a good deal,with whatis left of the moderate party
Again you,god chumps lose
I Solved Voter Fraud the Other Day, While Maintaining Ballot Secrecy...
So everyone knows their vote is counted.
1. You vote by machine, and once you hit 'send', it prints you two copies of the ballot you just entered.
2. You check the ballot and make sure the machine got it right
3. You take 1 copy of your ballot and drop it into a box outside the polling place which goes to a non-partisan group that recounts every ballot across the United States
4. You keep 1 copy.
5. The machine results are cross-checked against the ballot totals that the non-partisan group comes up with, based on ballot copies that voters verified and dropped into their box outside the precincts.
Voter fraud solved. No absentee ballots though, too much room for fraud. This completely eliminates it. Only absentee if out of the country or something. If someone rigs the machines, the ballot count by the non-partisan group will show the difference. If the fraud shows right away, you'll catch it on your copy. If the fraud doesn't show up on your copy, the non-partisan count will come up with a different total because they will be going off the true count of ballots that reflect what voters agree is what they just voted for.
Absentee doesn't really work for preventing fraud. We don't want unknown poll workers entering ballots that they got in the mail, unlimited room for fraud. If we have the person themselves voting and then getting a copy of it, and giving that to an outside, independent group, then we're good.
Obama won you,chumps lost
Now go,fak yourselves
Even though obama won the election, these idiots still can only gloat and criticize. More that likely they have no jobs and are sitting around, waiting for their welfare check and food stamps. After all that is the only reason they voted for obama. He truly did target the "idiot vote" and got it!! They are too stupid to realize that the entire country lost this election. I know: "get over it"...well we have and look forward to the cleansing part one in 2014, and part two in 2016.
CT here's your box of Kleenix you nasty person you...
hahahahaha !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
the only losers are the american people, fool !!!!!!!!!!!!!
whether your on the take or your in the shrinking workforce supporting all the lazy, incompetent, thieves (and, nobody is talking about the elderly, handicapped, vets and the like)
your gonna get screwed at all levels !!!!!!!!!!!!!!
bye, bye america prosperity and freedom!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
freeloaders are stealing from those who are truly entitled and the hard working taxpayers!!!!!!!!!!!!
keep rewarding them, that helps everyone !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Robert , the neocon haters groups which you are a part of must be thanking their lucky stars that we got into this econmic mess but all of you idiots do not get that even with REpublicans in office the economy is cylical and prosperty will be roaring back much to your disappointment.
Ha ha he he ho,ho
All,you,tea bagging low,iq,scum will,soon go
mrnoability...what grade did you achieve in school? I guess you are a poster-boy for the "idiot vote" Congratulations!!! Now get back to your cheese balls.
CT you're throwing stones after what you've posted in here.
Get a clue...
america is so united...
roflmaooooooooooooooo
great leader !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Robert
Go spread your hate to your,tea nagging scum friends,loser
Time for,you,to accept your,loss boy
Now get,ready,to,suk Obama d1c. Losers
Ha he,ho your mother was a hoe
i've prepared for obama getting re-elected, knowing that there are more lazy, freeloaders than people who earn what they get in this country, how about you...?????????
the sad part, the people who are truly entitled and the hard working taxpayers will be screwed by the thieves !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Your,state is a red state,losers
Smart people live in the blue states
Now shut,your hole boy
Your mother was a free loader robert
Robert
Your types are DIY g boy,,
Loser robert
Prepare to lose again in 2016 you simple minded fak,ha he ho
Roberts mother
Was banged by a tribe of Kenyan homies
Lazy & ignorant is no way to go through life...
Knowledge Is Good. Emil Faber
Doesn't it seem like conservatives are more Neidermeyer-ish and liberals are more Stratton-esque?
KNOWLEDGE....IS........POWER
.............110% AGREE...............