Obama Wins Majority Vote by Landslide but Loses Electoral College. Riots Ensue?

[WWFFD]

Although I have to admit that I haven't exactly crunched the numbers to really pose a detailed scenario of how this could happen I wanted to pose the question as food for thought. Obama seems to be doing extremely well with increasing the African American turnout and essentially creating votes that didn't exist in previous elections. So if you take the 2000 election as baseline and assume that Obama wins all of the same states that Gore won but much more handily and gains ground in the states that Gore lost by significant margins, the electoral college vote could still go to the Republicans leaving Obama holding upwards of 60% of actual votes and not be President. I don't know why this occurred to me today but I remember how pissed I was when the Supreme Court named Bush president. It's kind of scary to think what might happen if the first African American president isn't given the office due to some arcane system and its formalities.

[PatrickHenry]

The Republicans have been very skillful in disenfranchising minorities in the two previous Presidential election cycles.

Greg Palast has documented this.

[el comandante]

Surely that wont happen. It would certainly forefeit all Chavez bashing rights. It would maybe end all the dictator slurs, that is the only good thing that could possibly come from it, but even that wouldnt be worth it.

[Buck Laser]

I can't think of a scenario in which a candidate could win by a "landslide" of the popular vote and still lose the electoral vote. By "landslide," I'd even set the bar relatively low--say 55 to 57% of the popular vote. It might be possible, but I don't know of a way.

[WWFFD]

I was definitively posing the question with the idea of 55-60% being a landslide. Considering Bush barely got the majority in his re-elect campaign (first real win), getting a clear majority almost by default means you won by more than a few percentage points especially when you've got that damn Ralph Nader messing with the liberal vote. Being from the south and seeing how great the African American turn out in South Carolina was it seems that Obama could have a much better showing in SC, NC, TN, LA, MS etc but still lose them by say a percent or two and end up with a much stronger majority of the vote count than Gore and end up in the same place, giving a concession speech. But what's more intriguing and frighting about this scenario than the tragedy of 2000 is how completely devastated the African American community will be after finally buying into and participating in the process they are robbed of their voice by the electoral college system. The electoral college has out lasted its useful life and if 2000 wasn't proof enough I fear that 2008 may be more proof than the country can handle.

[Buck Laser]

I really don't think race is gonna be much of a factor in the 2008 election. Oh, there'll be some who won't vote for a black candidate under any circumstances, but I see Obama doing an extremely effective job of deflecting the inquiries to questions of competence, and he's doing a great job.

He's already survived nearly a year of running, and has demonstrated again and again his ability to think on his feet, to answer hard questions, and to present himself as a completely integrated human being. This year, we'll learn yet more about how he does in the pressure of a campaign. By November, the electorate should know whether he's the right person for the job.

My own opinion is that he IS the one: the first one since JFK, in fact, to capture the hearts of his followers. I worked in JFK's campaign way back when, and Obama's stirring up those memories for me. Endorsements from Caroline and Senator Kennedy just put the icing on the cake.

[WWFFD]

I completely agree that Obama has a done a phenomenal job with the race issue and is a candidate that should be a beacon of progress for all Americans GOPs and Dems alike. After the 2004 election I was at a point where I thought we had no hope. We were a kingdom of idiots happily being led by the court Jester, but seeing the success that Obama has had reminds me of the great promise of this country. I hope against all hope that you are right. I just know that even a in an extremely progressive southern state like NC, race is more of a factor than it should be so who can even begin to guess what Mississippi is thinking.

[preservanation]

All this is assuming the impossible...that Clinton Inc will allow Obama to win the nomination.
They will continue with the race baiting and division of the Dem electorate until they win.
If they happen to go into a brokered convention, she will pull the Mich and Fla delegates out of her bag of tricks.
I feel for you Obama supporters out there, because I really like the guy and think him much less dangerous to the nation and our freedom if elected than Bill and Hillary, but the Clintons have no intention of ever letting that happen.

Some out there, and maybe even Obama himself have no idea of the breadth and scope of her desire for power and what lengths she will go to in order to acquire it.
She very well could go as far as tearing the whole party apart.
The riots you fear have a much better chance of occurring among the Dems over the nomination process and not in the general election.
Stay tuned...the fur is about to fly.

[Alexander Hamilton]

I would say there's a great chance that Obama could receive more delegates in the primaries, but the superdelegates could push Hillary over the top. If this happens, I'm guessing that it will result in an immediate change in the way the DNC operates as well as a long-lasting division in the Democratic Party as well as a much larger rift between the parties.

I sincerely hope that it doesn't happen but it's a possibility and not that far-fetched at all. We need to become united somehow - the partisan politics featuring the same old people in power aren't doing the trick.