3rd party voters propelled Biden to victory

Comparing the 2020 presidential vote with 2016 offers fascinating trends. The total vote was up by an astonishing 21,715,000 votes, a 16% jump.

Trump lost 5 of the 30 states he won in ’16 and couldn’t sang one of Hillary’s 20. But Trump’s vote percentage edged upward in 4 of the 5 states he lost and in 18 of the 25 states he won. His losing vote percentage edged upward just under a point from 46.1% to 46.9%. While those increases are disturbing, it indicates the Trump base unlikely to ever pass 50%.

In winning 25 states to Hillary’s 20, Biden increased the Democratic vote by 15,405,400 votes (23%). Since Trump’s vote actually improved, where did Biden get his staggering increase? 2016’s third party voters. Their votes dropped a dramatic 63%, from 7.83 million to 2.90 million .

My view is 3rd party voters are highly engaged progressive folks who shun both parties as Tweedledee and Tweedledum. I’ve spent hours trying to dissuade them of such folly. That backfired on them in ’16 as Trump was no Tweedledum….just dumb and evil.

After suffering for 4 years they bailed on their ideal candidate to repudiate Trump. Had they been so sagacious in ’16, we would have been spared four years of agony. Maybe even a couple hundred thousand covid victims wouldn’t be pushing up daises.