# Why is the conventional wisdom that the electoral college math favors the Democrats?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-conventional-wisdom-that-the-electoral-college-math-favors-the-democrats/766064>\
**Category:** Politics & Elections\
**Created:** [September 16, 2016, 4:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-conventional-wisdom-that-the-electoral-college-math-favors-the-democrats/766064 "2016-09-16T04:54:17Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 3

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Fiddle\_Peghead](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fiddle_peghead/32/3506_2.png) [@Fiddle\_Peghead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fiddle_Peghead)\
**Post date:** [September 24, 2016, 4:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-conventional-wisdom-that-the-electoral-college-math-favors-the-democrats/766064/41 "2016-09-24T16:54:28Z")

</div>

Stupid question (perhaps): what, precisely, is meant by “the electoral college math”?

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\
**Post date:** [September 24, 2016, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-conventional-wisdom-that-the-electoral-college-math-favors-the-democrats/766064/42 "2016-09-24T17:48:47Z")

</div>

Just adding the electoral votes up depending on who wins what state, nothing fancier than that.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\
**Post date:** [September 24, 2016, 11:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-conventional-wisdom-that-the-electoral-college-math-favors-the-democrats/766064/43 "2016-09-24T23:30:55Z")

</div>

> [@septimus](#):
>
> …One piece of good news is that his base — old white men — are a diminishing portion of the electorate. But they’re a powerful faction and, as you suggest, the havoc they wreak in coming years may be horrific even assuming Trump’s defeat.

Around here at least he seems very popular among 20- and 30-something young males who drive pickup trucks and fish or do construction or similar for a living. The idea that the angry white guy demographic is all elderly and soon to die off is IMO premature. There’re new ones born every day. Who will in 6 years be attending really crappy badly operated obsolete schools. Unless their parents [del]home-school[/del] home-indoctrinate them which will be even worse.

To be sure, they’re being out-reproduced and out-immigrated by non-whites and non-males. But their decline will be much more 2 steps downward, 1-1/2 steps back upwards rather than a straight 2 steps downward, 2 steps downward, 2 more steps downward sort of decline.

[Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-conventional-wisdom-that-the-electoral-college-math-favors-the-democrats/766064.md?page=2)