Re:Now, let's all have a big Slashdot group hug (Score 1)

Bush got more votes than any American in history. That statistic has been rankling me all day. To say that this is an accomplishment for Bush is ludicrous. The fact of the matter is that both Bush AND Kerry got more votes than any other candidates in history. Bush won by a very slim margin, and the slimness of that margin is unaffected by the fact that there was a big turnout. It's wonderful that there was such a great turnout. The turnout was increased by the fact that more people feel passionate about the problems around them, and by the excellent jobs done by organizations devoted to getting voters out there. These are all good things. But to say that Bush got the most votes of any president in history is silly. You might as well say that Kerry got more votes than any other presidential election loser in history. It's true. It doesn't mean he did any better against Bush. It jsut means there were lots of voters and most of them didn't vote for a tertiary party. A lot of people, when they hear that Bush got more votes than anybody else in history, think that this means he has more popular support than anybody in history. And that just isn't true. I feel it's incredibly irresponsible for people or the media to perpetuate this misunderstanding of the statistic. m