The popular vote argument is silly (Updated)
Everyone in Brooklyn should know that, because Brooklyn is the perfect example of why that is so. Let’s leave aside the argument about following the rules for a moment — yes, the rules are the rules, they’re the rules for everyone, and everyone knew about them in advance — but let’s put that aside for now.
Brooklyn is, by population, one of the strongest Democratic counties in the entire country. Only a handful of counties (Cook Co., Illinois (Chicago), Wayne Co, MI (Detroit), Los Angeles Co., CA, and Middlesex Co., MA (Boston north to NH)) delivered more Democratic votes to Al Gore in 2000 than Brooklyn. By all rights we are the Democratic party. But we don’t normally get a lot of interest and attention in national elections, and that’s because the popular vote doesn’t count. There’s simply no incentive to run up the score in Brooklyn to boost popular vote totals in heavily-Democratic New York.
The primary is similar. If the primary election had been a matter of turning out the highest number of registered Democrats possible, Brooklyn, and other major urban areas, would have been ground zero of the campaign. Instead, neither candidate sent paid staffers to Brooklyn. I’m incredibly proud of what we did as volunteers, but I don’t think I’m giving away any secrets by saying more resources would have been helpful. Those resources went to places like Idaho instead, and that’s why Obama will win the nomination. Does anyone believe that Senator Obama wouldn’t have spent more time in Brooklyn and less time in Idaho if this were a popular vote contest?
By the way, if you include an estimate of the popular vote in the caucus states (which Team Clinton does not) we’re actually winning the popular vote.
But still.
UPDATE:And now, thanks to Nate Silver over at 538, you can calculate the popular vote choose-your-own adventure style from a menu of 7 different choices that create 972 different popular vote options.
