# What constitutes a "landslide"victory? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [October 22, 2008, 8:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-constitutes-a-landslide-victory/469119 "2008-10-22T20:22:31Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Enola\_Gay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/3ab097/32.png) [@Enola\_Gay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enola_Gay)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2008, 8:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-constitutes-a-landslide-victory/469119/1 "2008-10-22T20:22:31Z")
Obviously Reagon won by a landslide in 1984 when he carried 49 states, got 525 Electoral votes a (compared to Mondale’s 13), and had an 18 percentage point lead in the popular vote. But if Obama should win by 8 points and get 364 EVs, would that be a landslide? Is there a specific definition of landslide as it relates to elections? ---
**Author:** ![SeanArenas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/df705f/32.png) [@SeanArenas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SeanArenas)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2008, 8:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-constitutes-a-landslide-victory/469119/2 "2008-10-22T20:28:54Z")
Apparently it varies from country to country: > **[Landslide victory](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Landslide_victory)** > > A landslide victory is an election result in which the victorious candidate or party wins by an overwhelming margin. The term became popular in the 1800s to describe a victory in which the opposition is "buried", similar to the way in which a geological landslide buries whatever is in its path. What constitutes a landslide varies by the type of electoral system. Even within an electoral system, there is no consensus on what sized margin makes for a landslide. > Provincial elections: > Local and ma... ---
**Author:** ![Markxxx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5daacb/32.png) [@Markxxx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Markxxx)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2008, 8:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-constitutes-a-landslide-victory/469119/3 "2008-10-22T20:44:16Z")
It would depend on your view. For instance if Obama won every state but Maine and Vermont it’d be a landslide. But if Obama won every state except California and Texas it may not be, 'cause those are the two most populas states. ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2008, 8:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-constitutes-a-landslide-victory/469119/4 "2008-10-22T20:45:48Z")
It has no quantative meaning at all. In 2004, many pro-Bush commentators claimed a “landslide”. 50.7% vs 48.3% popular vote and 286 vs. 252 electoral vote (which hung on a single questionable tally in Ohio). (It was also the closest popular vote for a winning incumbent.) Since the winner of the 2008 vote is likely to top all those (as well as a new all time record for most votes received) by quite a bit, expect the same people to claim “not a landslide”. ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2008, 9:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-constitutes-a-landslide-victory/469119/5 "2008-10-22T21:28:34Z")
Back in 1984, when the election was a foregone conclusion and the pundits had lots of time to blather, a couple of them got into an argument over Reagan’s 59% of the popular vote really constituted a “landslide.” They felt 60% was the magic number. By that measurement, the only landslides in the last 100 years would be Harding (1920), Roosevelt (1936), Johnson (1964) and Nixon (1972). That’s about 15% of all the presidential elections of that period. But it’s a lot easier to get 60% of the electoral vote than popular vote. The highest 15% of electoral vote percentages during those elections ranged from 91% (Reagan 1980) to 98% (Roosevelt 1936.) So let’s say from an electoral vote standpoint you need 90% of 538 EV. That’s about 484. ---
**Author:** ![YamatoTwinkie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/cc9497/32.png) [@YamatoTwinkie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/YamatoTwinkie)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2008, 9:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-constitutes-a-landslide-victory/469119/6 "2008-10-22T21:37:51Z")
[fivethirtyeight.com](http://fivethirtyeight.com) puts a landslide victory at 375+ Electoral Votes, for whatever that’s worth. ---
**Author:** ![rowrrbazzle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rowrrbazzle/32/414_2.png) [@rowrrbazzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rowrrbazzle)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2008, 7:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-constitutes-a-landslide-victory/469119/7 "2008-10-23T19:35:17Z")
It seems to be an old saying/joke/spin that “A majority of one is a landslide”. IIRC JFK or his father said it, and Jim Barrett of McCain’s NH campaign said it in the primary, ---
**Author:** ![Enola\_Gay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/3ab097/32.png) [@Enola\_Gay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enola_Gay)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2008, 9:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-constitutes-a-landslide-victory/469119/8 "2008-10-23T21:03:57Z")
Cool. Thanks for the replies everyone. So if Obama wins, even by just a hair, I’m calling it a landslide. ---
**Author:** ![vetbridge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b5e925/32.png) [@vetbridge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vetbridge)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2008, 9:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-constitutes-a-landslide-victory/469119/9 "2008-10-23T21:09:17Z")
If neither side is screaming, “recount”, it is a landslide. ---
**Author:** ![CC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f1d935/32.png) [@CC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CC)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2008, 10:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-constitutes-a-landslide-victory/469119/10 "2008-10-23T22:39:49Z")
> [@vetbridge](#): > > If neither side is screaming, “recount”, it is a landslide. Given the potential for trouble with voting machines, I think we may hear some screaming. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2008, 2:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-constitutes-a-landslide-victory/469119/11 "2008-10-24T02:33:30Z")
Lyndon Johnson acquired the ironic nickname “Landslide Lyndon” after he won his 1948 Senate campaign by an official tally of 87 votes at a time when the population of Texas was over seven million. ---
**Author:** ![cckerberos](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f0a364/32.png) [@cckerberos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cckerberos)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2008, 3:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-constitutes-a-landslide-victory/469119/12 "2008-10-24T03:19:37Z")
> [@YamatoTwinkie](#): > > [fivethirtyeight.com](http://fivethirtyeight.com) puts a landslide victory at 375+ Electoral Votes, for whatever that’s worth. That seems a little low to me… Clinton got about that in '96 and I don’t remember thinking of that as a landslide. Personally, I’d say 400+ or at least a 10% margin of victory in the popular 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:** [October 24, 2008, 4:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-constitutes-a-landslide-victory/469119/13 "2008-10-24T04:05:14Z")
> [@cckerberos](#): > > That seems a little low to me… Clinton got about that in '96 and I don’t remember thinking of that as a landslide. For what it’s worth, '92 and '96 are both included in the list of electoral landslides on Wikipedia.