# Trump Crowds vs Biden Crowds **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [October 27, 2020, 9:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-crowds-vs-biden-crowds/924062 "2020-10-27T21:13:26Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 19\ **Page:** 12
**Author:** ![iiandyiiii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iiandyiiii/32/7924_2.png) [@iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2020, 3:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-crowds-vs-biden-crowds/924062/223 "2020-11-08T03:12:15Z")
Not pedantic - what you said was factually inaccurate. If you want to say that’s what you think will happen, then okay, but that’s different. Democrats might still get the Senate. It would be difficult, but not impossible - especially considering that Biden is probably going to win GA. If Trump tries to take his party down with him it could get considerably easier. Democrats will have lost some red seats they won in '18. But they’re keeping some others, and keeping control of the House despite the heavy gerrymandering that generally favors the GOP. And Biden will have defeated the highest Republican turnout in a century, if not more, and not by a smidgen, but by a decent margin, both in the popular vote and the electoral vote. This was a good election for the Democrats. Not great, but pretty good, and if they win the GA runoffs, then maybe very good. ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2020, 5:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-crowds-vs-biden-crowds/924062/224 "2020-11-08T05:08:07Z")
I love how the big Republican fantasy fetish is people of color abandoning the Democrats. It’s like they’re all Ponce de Leon and it’s the Fountain of Youth. ---
**Author:** ![crowmanyclouds](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crowmanyclouds/32/19884_2.png) [@crowmanyclouds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/crowmanyclouds)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2020, 6:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-crowds-vs-biden-crowds/924062/225 "2020-11-08T06:47:45Z")
> [@Sam\_Stone](#): > > {…} From my stanpoint as an anti-trump libertarian, the result of this election could hardly be better. I’m soo happy for you . . . and I envy the fact that this election has absolutely no effect on your life. ---
**Author:** ![glowacks](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/glowacks/32/5548_2.png) [@glowacks](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/glowacks)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2020, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-crowds-vs-biden-crowds/924062/226 "2020-11-08T18:58:01Z")
> [@Sam\_Stone](#): > > Okay, if you want to be pedantic, at this moment it’s 46-48 in the Senate for Republicans, but the outstanding races heavily favor the Republicans. There are two runoff elections coming in Georgia, with Republicans favored to win both. In Alaska, the person who won the Democratic primary at least believes he’s going to win. The AP show 50% reporting and the Republican with a large lead, but large Republican leads have evaporated over much smaller percentages of counted votes. The fact that it’s not been called might mean there simply isn’t enough evidence, since with only 50% reporting you’d technically need 100% of the vote to be sure, but lots of places were called for parties shortly after polls closed when the outcome was not in doubt. So the Democrats have a chance here at least. I don’t know what you’re referring to with Tuberville, who clearly won in Alabama. I’m going to guess that you knew Alaska was mentioned as uncertain and thought the postal abbreviation was not AK but AL and thus looked up the AL senate race. Or maybe you’re just referring to flips, and that’s just a coincidence. But you didn’t mention Alaska at all, while you did mention North Carolina and then went on to Tuberville. ---
**Author:** ![Sam\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Sam\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_Stone)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2020, 8:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-crowds-vs-biden-crowds/924062/227 "2020-11-08T20:00:21Z")
I just used the list of outstanding races in the link I posted, which were coded for whether they were still close or not. And they had Tuberville’s election results marked as ‘undecided’, even though he was ahead 60-40. So I just reported it as is. ---
**Author:** ![eenerms](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/cdc98d/32.png) [@eenerms](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eenerms)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2020, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-crowds-vs-biden-crowds/924062/228 "2020-11-13T17:22:13Z")
After the media called the election for Biden, on campus in Madison people gathered en mass , no social distancing, masks around their necks , hugging and yelling . Now the Governor of Wisconsin says it’s ok to protest etc, but no social gathering for Thanksgiving… ---
**Author:** ![Velocity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/velocity/32/18006_2.png) [@Velocity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velocity)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2020, 5:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-crowds-vs-biden-crowds/924062/229 "2020-11-13T17:25:02Z")
> [@Chefguy](#): > > I’d call 4 million votes somewhat of a landslide. By this criteria (4 million popular vote margin), _ **most** _ modern U.S. elections have been landslides. It renders the term pretty meaningless. Furthermore, considering Trump’s venal incompetence, pandemic deaths, thousands of lies or crass tweets, dozens of scandals, for Biden to _only_ beat Trump by 4 million votes is akin to Michigan beating Appalachian State by a field goal. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2020, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-crowds-vs-biden-crowds/924062/230 "2020-11-13T17:43:00Z")
It’s only meaningless because of the antiquated electoral system. We live in a country where you can win by 4-5 million popular votes and still lose. Who else has this sort of fucked up way of doing things? We’re basically saying that “Hey, it was good enough for our wealthy slave-owning landowners who wanted to retain control over the ignorant masses, so let’s just keep using it.” It makes no sense whatsoever. ---
**Author:** ![Lobohan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobohan/32/79_2.png) [@Lobohan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lobohan)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2020, 6:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-crowds-vs-biden-crowds/924062/231 "2020-11-13T18:00:25Z")
Do you think the Governor of Wisconsin approves of the hugging? Also, protests are largely social distanced, masked, and outdoors. The primary driver for infections now is in-person get-togethers. It’s profoundly stupid and IMHO evil to have a Thanksgiving with family members you don’t live with. ---
**Author:** ![Chingon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chingon/32/17645_2.png) [@Chingon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chingon)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2020, 6:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-crowds-vs-biden-crowds/924062/232 "2020-11-13T18:39:18Z")
You should really stop trying to make sports analogies. It’s getting embarrassing. ---
**Author:** ![eenerms](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/cdc98d/32.png) [@eenerms](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eenerms)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2020, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-crowds-vs-biden-crowds/924062/233 "2020-11-13T19:14:41Z")
The pictures and news reports, local, didn’t show distancing. The UW has had significant spikes. It seems that there are two sets of standards, as it comes to crowds. My mother is in an independent living setting, they are under a strict lockdown. As they should be. I think people will take the decision on Thanksgiving and more than likely be close family( same household ). ---
**Author:** ![k9bfriender](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/k9bfriender/32/3283_2.png) [@k9bfriender](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/k9bfriender)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2020, 7:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-crowds-vs-biden-crowds/924062/234 "2020-11-13T19:27:42Z")
> [@eenerms](#): > > It seems that there are two sets of standards, as it comes to crowds. Only if you think that the Governor of Wisconsin approves of the hugging. Otherwise, it seems as though your perspective is pretty far off the mark. ---
**Author:** ![Biffster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biffster/32/339_2.png) [@Biffster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biffster)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2020, 7:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-crowds-vs-biden-crowds/924062/235 "2020-11-13T19:51:59Z")
> [@Chefguy](#): > > It’s only meaningless because of the antiquated electoral system. We live in a country where you can win by 4-5 million popular votes and still lose. Who else has this sort of fucked up way of doing things? We’re basically saying that “Hey, it was good enough for our wealthy slave-owning landowners who wanted to retain control over the ignorant masses, so let’s just keep using it.” It makes no sense whatsoever. All votes are equal, but some are more equal than others. ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2020, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-crowds-vs-biden-crowds/924062/236 "2020-11-13T19:52:25Z")
> [@eenerms](#): > > It seems that there are two sets of standards, as it comes to crowds. Can you quote someone in authority who approves of one type of crowd and disapproves of another? ---
**Author:** ![elbows](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/b3f665/32.png) [@elbows](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elbows)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2020, 9:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-crowds-vs-biden-crowds/924062/237 "2020-11-18T21:31:04Z")
I’m surprised no one remembers that following SARS every affected country, all the international health agencies, researchers working on it, ALL said, ‘this type thing can/will come along again, we were lucky this time, we need resources to be better prepared.‘ That’s the reason American resources were poured into building a prepped team, devised a nationwide plan, setting up a playbook for states and agencies, all the finest doctors and scientists consulted. All done, and would have been the envy of the world…but…well, we all know how that story ends. That’s WHY places that did better, even smallish and underachieving nations often did much better that the US. Because they saw SARS, they listened to the scientists, did some basic prep, laid some plans in place, just in case. It’s horrible to be caught unprepared, or simply lack resources, but to have had it all, at the ready, and purposely trash ALL of it, for ego, that has to border on criminal. I 100% percent agree that he is personally responsible for those numbers and those deaths. ---
**Author:** ![Euphonious\_Polemic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/euphonious_polemic/32/3002_2.png) [@Euphonious\_Polemic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Euphonious_Polemic)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2020, 7:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-crowds-vs-biden-crowds/924062/238 "2020-11-30T19:19:41Z")
Just bumping this thread to [link to this article](https://www.aol.com/news/trumps-rallies-didnt-pay-off-054435245.html?guccounter=1&guce_referrer=aHR0cHM6Ly9ib2FyZHMuc3RyYWlnaHRkb3BlLmNvbS8&guce_referrer_sig=AQAAAHZWhOtEji__wD1575DUsB3owFWnz96I1TIvsiegvYQLWA4wpDQvQ9AccE3_Ecp8XvZCKFxUjQi_RGrHOetJHagsPRfA-xsmmvvpwvPrSS7GDiGmb4ZZAYTug9sUh3ppVkPW8tY4Sy_fdMe7oPh7nVzuXIX39OHi_onu2TdC05VU), which has some comments on Trump’s crowds at his rallys: Some quotes: Trump rallies may have actually had a NEGATIVE impact on his election performance: > In an overwhelming number of cases, Trump came up short of his 2016 victory margins in the counties where he held rallies in the two weeks before the election, NBC reported. In a significant number of cases, he either increased his negative margins or lost the counties to rival Joe Biden that he won the last time around. Rallies are not a useful indicator of how the vote will go: > But the findings present a clear warning against gauging national, or even state, popularity based on rally turnouts, which tend to draw those who would vote for a candidate in any case. The rallies also represent a minuscule fraction of the vote. But the rallys were effective at one thing; Spreading disease. > What the rallies did accomplish was to [increase COVID-19 infections](https://www.huffpost.com/entry/trump-rallies-coronavirus-cases-deaths-study_n_5f9d85f9c5b60eefc8532067), according to research from [Stanford University.](https://sebotero.github.io/papers/COVIDrallies_10_30_2000.pdf) ---
**Author:** ![Spoons](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spoons/32/3141_2.png) [@Spoons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoons)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2020, 2:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-crowds-vs-biden-crowds/924062/239 "2020-12-01T02:55:53Z")
> [@Euphonious\_Polemic](#): > > Trump rallies may have actually had a NEGATIVE impact on his election performance: > > [snip] > > Rallies are not a useful indicator of how the vote will go: I’ve seen elsewhere, and possibly even here on the SDMB, that using Trump’s rallies to gauge his popularity was misleading. That is, even though Trump and his supporters were convinced that rally size indicated Trump’s popularity, the fact is that many Trump supporters went from rally to rally, much like Grateful Dead fans would follow the band from concert to concert. Every now and then, a news interviewer would talk with a rallygoer who would proudly state that this was his sixth (or seventh or eighth, or whatever) time at a Trump rally. So the rally crowds were made up of the same people, who went back, time and time again. Not all, of course, and it would be impossible to say whether these “repeaters” made up a majority or minority of the crowd. But the fact that people would attend more than once, in different places, should indicate that rally attendance might not be the best measure of Trump’s popularity with the entire electorate. ---
**Author:** ![Heffalump\_and\_Roo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/heffalump_and_roo/32/7691_2.png) [@Heffalump\_and\_Roo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Heffalump_and_Roo)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2020, 8:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-crowds-vs-biden-crowds/924062/240 "2020-12-01T08:15:11Z")
If the polls are right, crowd size does not equal popularity in this case. Biden’s favorability is higher than Trump’s ever was, even after Trump was first elected as Biden just was. Biden’s favorability is at 55%, higher than Trump’s highest of 49% Right now, Trump’s favorability is at 42%. > **[Biden's Favorability Already 6 Percent Higher Than Trump's Record: Poll](https://www.newsweek.com/bidens-favorability-already-6-percent-higher-trumps-record-poll-1551188)** > > Trump's favorability rating record was 49 percent, according to Gallup. Biden's now stands at 55 percent. > [@](#): > > Polling by Gallup released Monday [shows](https://news.gallup.com/poll/326885/biden-favorability-rises-trump-dips.aspx) that Biden’s favorability now stands at 55 percent in the wake of his victory over Trump in the presidential election. Trump’s favorability currently stands at just 42 percent, and the president’s highest favorability during his nearly four years in office was 49 percent—or 6 percent lower than where the Democrat president-elect’s favorability currently sits. Trump’s favorability peaked in April of this year. > > Comparatively, Biden’s favorability is also double-digits above where Trump’s stood after he won the 2016 presidential election. Gallup’s polling following Trump’s victory over former Democratic presidential candidate [Hillary Clinton](https://www.newsweek.com/topic/hillary-clinton) [showed](https://news.gallup.com/poll/197576/trump-favorability-trails-presidents-elect.aspx) that just 42 percent of Americans viewed the Republican favorably—13 percent less than Biden’s current favorability. ---
**Author:** ![Horatius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/horatius/32/3572_2.png) [@Horatius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatius)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2020, 3:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-crowds-vs-biden-crowds/924062/241 "2020-12-01T15:48:34Z")
> [@Spoons](#): > > Every now and then, a news interviewer would talk with a rallygoer who would proudly state that this was his sixth (or seventh or eighth, or whatever) time at a Trump rally. So the rally crowds were made up of the same people, who went back, time and time again. Not all, of course, and it would be impossible to say whether these “repeaters” made up a majority or minority of the crowd. But the fact that people would attend more than once, in different places, should indicate that rally attendance might not be the best measure of Trump’s popularity with the entire electorate. The really funny part is, these are the same guys who dismiss protests against Trump by saying, “They had to bus in protestors from all over the country to get a big crowd!” [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-crowds-vs-biden-crowds/924062.md?page=11)