# So, how is the McCain 72-hour final effort going? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [November 3, 2008, 7:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-how-is-the-mccain-72-hour-final-effort-going/470832 "2008-11-03T07:05:03Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Frank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Frank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frank)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2008, 9:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-how-is-the-mccain-72-hour-final-effort-going/470832/21 "2008-11-03T21:35:54Z")
I got ancedotal evidence. I live in a swing state - THE swing state, Missouri - and over the last two weeks have received about a dozen phone calls (robo and live) urging me to vote for Obama, and one urging me to vote for McCain. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2008, 9:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-how-is-the-mccain-72-hour-final-effort-going/470832/22 "2008-11-03T21:55:59Z")
> [@](#): > > 2004? You mean the election where Bush won Montana by 20 points? And when Schweitzer won the governor’s office by an even wider margin, and when Tester beat Burns in the Senate. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2008, 10:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-how-is-the-mccain-72-hour-final-effort-going/470832/23 "2008-11-03T22:00:52Z")
> [@Hostile\_Dialect](#): > > 2004? You mean the election where Bush won Montana by 20 points? Does Montana even get a whole electoral vote? ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Carrot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f0a364/32.png) [@Captain\_Carrot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Carrot)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2008, 10:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-how-is-the-mccain-72-hour-final-effort-going/470832/24 "2008-11-03T22:08:55Z")
> [@jsc1953](#): > > Hardly ever…although Gore failed to carry Tennessee in 2000 (he’d be our outgoing president, if he had). Even in massive landslides like 1972 and 1984, the trouncee has carried his home state. It’s happened a few dozen times in the last two centuries. Stevenson didn’t win IL in '52 or '56, though he did win almost the entire South in both cases. ---
**Author:** ![Kalhoun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/3bc359/32.png) [@Kalhoun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kalhoun)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2008, 11:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-how-is-the-mccain-72-hour-final-effort-going/470832/25 "2008-11-03T23:10:06Z")
> [@Renee](#): > > Have you seen this [fivethirtyeight article?](http://www.fivethirtyeight.com/2008/10/big-empty.html) Jeez…that’s dark. ---
**Author:** ![Happy\_Lendervedder](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/happy_lendervedder/32/8488_2.png) [@Happy\_Lendervedder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Happy_Lendervedder)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2008, 11:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-how-is-the-mccain-72-hour-final-effort-going/470832/26 "2008-11-03T23:28:03Z")
Anecdotally: I’ve been in Toledo canvassing the neighborhoods for the past three weeks. Only one time have I come across two sheepish McCain supporters simply hanging door-knockers on everyone’s house. (When I passed them, I asked them who they were working for, they said “Who are you working for?” I said “Obama. You?” They looked at each other and sheepishly said “McCain,” and kept walking. I said, “Good luck with that!”) In the past week, I’ve crossed paths with Obama canvassers everyday, knocking on doors, having conversations with people. Also, in Ohio (and I’m sure in every other tossup state), not only are there thousands of Obama campaign canvassers, there are thousands of my fellow union members visiting and phone-banking union households. I really don’t see how the McCain camp could possibly hold a candle to this operation. I’d like to predict that the McCain campaign’s “final 72-hour effort” in Ohio will result in a pretty large Obama victory here. ---
**Author:** ![gaffa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e68b1a/32.png) [@gaffa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gaffa)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2008, 11:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-how-is-the-mccain-72-hour-final-effort-going/470832/27 "2008-11-03T23:51:52Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > Of course, it may be that the McCain campaign is only just now starting to take seriously the possibility that Montana might go blue. The signs have been pointing in that direction at least since 2004, though, for anyone who was looking at them. Rachal Maddow had an interesting interview with the Governor of Montana Sunday night He explained their unique political situation, and that 3rd party candidates for President may draw as much as 15% of the vote - and mostly away from McCain. ---
**Author:** ![Euthanasiast](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/6f9a4e/32.png) [@Euthanasiast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Euthanasiast)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2008, 12:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-how-is-the-mccain-72-hour-final-effort-going/470832/28 "2008-11-04T00:03:53Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > Does Montana even get a whole electoral vote? I thought every state got two minimum. Unless I’m losing my mind and don’t understand your question. ---
**Author:** ![Happy\_Lendervedder](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/happy_lendervedder/32/8488_2.png) [@Happy\_Lendervedder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Happy_Lendervedder)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2008, 12:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-how-is-the-mccain-72-hour-final-effort-going/470832/29 "2008-11-04T00:06:01Z")
> [@Euthanasiast](#): > > I thought every state got two minimum. > > Unless I’m losing my mind and don’t understand your question. He was joking. And every state is guaranteed three. One for each senator + one for each congressman their state is allocated. ---
**Author:** ![Least\_Original\_User\_Name\_Ever](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e480ec/32.png) [@Least\_Original\_User\_Name\_Ever](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Least_Original_User_Name_Ever)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2008, 12:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-how-is-the-mccain-72-hour-final-effort-going/470832/30 "2008-11-04T00:45:48Z")
> [@Phlosphr](#): > > I’ve got a good friend in Livingston and he says almost the same exact thing. Though he and a large group of volunteers are getting the dems ready for tomorrow - we’ll see what happens. Third time I’ve posted this, but it actually seems to fit here. Saturday and Sunday, the Obama campaign knocked 580,000 doors in Indiana. ---
**Author:** ![Hostile\_Dialect](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e495f1/32.png) [@Hostile\_Dialect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hostile_Dialect)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2008, 12:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-how-is-the-mccain-72-hour-final-effort-going/470832/31 "2008-11-04T00:59:44Z")
> [@WhyNot](#): > > Does that happen often in presidential races? Out of 124 seriously competitive candidates in Presidential history, only 38 have failed to carry their own states. Most of those either (a) lost in landslides, (b) lost to election winners from the same state, (c) lost to FDR, (d) lost to George Washington or some combination of the above. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2008, 2:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-how-is-the-mccain-72-hour-final-effort-going/470832/32 "2008-11-04T02:38:31Z")
> [@](#): > > Rachal Maddow had an interesting interview with the Governor of Montana Sunday night He explained their unique political situation, and that 3rd party candidates for President may draw as much as 15% of the vote - and mostly away from McCain. I’ll have to look that up-- If anyone can explain Montana’s political situation, it’s Schweitzer. I know I can’t: The closest I can get is “Hippies with guns”. ---
**Author:** ![Frank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Frank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frank)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2008, 2:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-how-is-the-mccain-72-hour-final-effort-going/470832/33 "2008-11-04T02:54:10Z")
> [@Hostile\_Dialect](#): > > Out of 124 seriously competitive candidates in Presidential history, … Well, you’ve got my interest. Counting this year, there have been 56 elections, times two = 112, minus Washington’s lack of opposition = 110. Are you counting among the other 14 anyone who got more than a token number of electoral votes? For example George Wallace in 1968? ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2008, 3:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-how-is-the-mccain-72-hour-final-effort-going/470832/34 "2008-11-04T03:38:22Z")
> [@](#): > > Well, you’ve got my interest. Counting this year, there have been 56 elections, times two = 112, minus Washington’s lack of opposition = 110. Less than that, even. Washington in 1786 plus Washington in 1790 is still only one candidate. Likewise for any other president who served multiple terms. On the other hand, though, remember that vice presidents used to be drawn from the same pool as presidents. Washington didn’t lack opposition; he was opposed by John Adams. And after Washington, when you had recognizable tickets emerging, each ticket had two Presidential candidates, so you had four or more candidates per election. ---
**Author:** ![Frank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Frank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frank)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2008, 3:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-how-is-the-mccain-72-hour-final-effort-going/470832/35 "2008-11-04T03:47:28Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > Less than that, even. Washington in 1786 plus Washington in 1790 is still only one candidate. Likewise for any other president who served multiple terms. That’s a fair point; I was counting each time a candidate ran as a separate viable candidate. > [@](#): > > On the other hand, though, remember that vice presidents used to be drawn from the same pool as presidents. Washington didn’t lack opposition; he was opposed by John Adams. And after Washington, when you had recognizable tickets emerging, each ticket had two Presidential candidates, so you had four or more candidates per election. This is not a fair point, really. From 1789 to 1800, there was a clear understanding of which candidate was the Presidential candidate, and which one was the Vice-Presidential candidate. Washington was not opposed by anyone for President, and he received the maximum number of electoral votes. Adams was running for Vice-President. It was not until 1800 that the flaw in the Constitution became clear, in that the Vice-Presidential candidate (Burr) received the same number of votes as the Presidential candidate (Jefferson). After the debacle of Burr actually trying to win the Presidency in the House of Representatives (as who wouldn’t, in the circumstances), the nation said, “That wasn’t what we meant,” and fixed it. ---
**Author:** ![Hostile\_Dialect](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e495f1/32.png) [@Hostile\_Dialect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hostile_Dialect)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2008, 7:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-how-is-the-mccain-72-hour-final-effort-going/470832/36 "2008-11-04T07:51:08Z")
> [@Frank](#): > > Well, you’ve got my interest. Counting this year, there have been 56 elections, times two = 112, minus Washington’s lack of opposition = 110. I went to [ElectoralMaps.Org](http://ElectoralMaps.Org) and meticulously counted out those statistics by hand. If you do some research, you’ll find that not all Presidential elections have had two competitive candidates. One was unopposed and several others had three or four. Wallace is an example of one of those third candidates; La Follette is another, as are a couple of candidates in several three- and four-horse races just before the dawn of the second-party system. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-how-is-the-mccain-72-hour-final-effort-going/470832.md?page=1)