Obama brings out huge crowds everywhere. How come his votes aren't proportional

[rainy]

to his huge turn outs? I would expect, with these crowds that he would be winning in a landslide. What is up with that? Any one have any ideas? Just look at all those kids who seem to adore him on Chris Mathews.

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

1. What do you mean his votes aren't proportional?

Are you won of those people who have a problem with math?

[AX10]

2. Just ask Presidents McGovern and Kerry how those huge crowds...

worked out.

[anonymous171]

3. He HAS won in landslides.

[tekisui]

4. He has won many states in a landslide.

He has won 24 contests by 55% or more. Many in the 70% range.

[rainy]

5. well with ten's of thousands of people showing up for his speeches compared

to the lower numbers showing up at Hillary's speeches I'd think that his vote counts would be much larger too. I just am afraid that the vote is rigged to support the best corporate candidate. Plus I'm worried that Hillary is rumored to be close to Rove. That makes me wonder. I don't want the vote to be stolen from another progressive as usual. I know Obama is doing well and better that Hillary but the country still seems to think that Hillary has a chance. It should not be even close.

[joshcryer]

8. The people who can show up can afford to show up. You know there are a lot of people...

...who have things like jobs, kids, and other important life things to do, don't you?

The other half of the US population in fact.

[hell-bent]

9. Take off your tinfoil hat and look at the popular vote

totals. If you count Florida and the caucus states in the popular vote totals he leads by 1.8%! What are you Obama people drinking? http://www.realclearpolitics.com/epolls/2008/president/democratic_vote_count.html

[Spider Jerusalem]

12. Hillary's supporters are less likely to be politically active and highly motivated by her candidacy.

I suspect that a lot of them are voting for her for a combination of these reasons: a) she's a woman (which is the key reason for her support among the older female demographic; it's more complex, of course, but that's a huge part of it); b) they have nostalgia for the 1990's Clinton era, when the economy was much better, America wasn't in a disastrous Middle Eastern war, etc, and they're voting for Hillary more because of how they feel about Bill than how they feel about her; c) name recognition and a degree of comfortable familiarity, which ties in with (b); she's more or less a known quantity (and also, among a certain demographic, the fact that she's white, and not suspected of being a closet Muslim by the ignorant, etc, are definite factors).

[OzarkDem]

15. So Hillary's supporters are ignorant , bigoted females

who aren't politically active? :rofl:

You haven't met my Dem friends....

[Spider Jerusalem]

16. I didn't say that.

Most voters aren't politically active or even that really politically aware. You and your friends (and Hillary's DU supporters, etc) are an obvious exception, but I'm not talking about you, I'm talking about the average voter.

And I didn't even say 'bigoted'; sometimes prejudice is subtle, and unconscious.

[OzarkDem]

14. More likely Hillary's voters are older w/jobs and more responsibilites

Obama attracts younger voters, often students, who have more time on their hands to go to a rally, stand in line for a couple of hours, then spend another couple of hours waiting, listening to the talk and then leaving. Same system has worked well for him in the state caucus system.

Its great if you have the time, but older working adults don't have the time. Evenings and weekends are usually spent working, running errands, managing a family and home. We also don't go to rock concerts and movies as much as we did in our younger days.

Big rallies don't translate into landslide victories, just a voter base that has the time to attend them.

[stellanoir]

6. hmmmmmmmmmm

http://www.geocities.com/electionmodel/2008PrimariesLinks.htm

Just saying

[stellanoir]

7. self deleted inadvertent duplicate

again

[loyalsister]

10. Differences in venue

If they were holding events at the same venue, the picture would be different.
But, there is not the same interest in hearing her speak. She has different strengths and uses them. You can't make an on-the-ground comparison because they have entirely different cmpaigning strengths that they are using.

[OzarkDem]

11. Good question

In Iowa, they bused them in from IL college campuses.

[sandnsea]

13. He is winning in a landslide

Your question ought to be why the media is lying to you and telling you otherwise. He's won Jan, Feb, and Mar. He won more blue states, more red states, more primaries and more caucuses. He's won every test that's been put before him, including the Texas delegates. Hillary has less than a 10% chance of winning. If Obama had less than a 10% chance of winning, Bill would be saying he was only allowed to continue running because he was black.