The Fix Is In

Chris Cillizza's latest in The Washington Post--where he reveals the startling math that if Obama wins less states in 2012 than 2008 he could still remain President--begins thus:

When then-Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) won the White House in 2008, it was widely regarded as a landslide victory over Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.).

"Widely regarded"?  Where?  At cocktail parties he attends? Obama won the popular vote by 7.2 % with an electoral college victory of 365 - 173. Even in these times I don't think landslides are selling so cheap.

I wrote on the landslide threshold a couple years back.  Let me reproduce that post in full:

Wednesday, October 01, 2008

The Landslide Brought Me Down

I hear some in the Obama camp are expecting a "landslide." I suppose this all depends on what you think a landslide is.

With recent elections so close, it may seem like Bill Clinton enjoyed a landslide against Bob "Bob Dole" Dole in 1996. He won by less than 9 percentage points and took the Electoral College 379-159. Pretty paltry landslide, seems to me.

Now 1984 (18%+, 525-13), 1972 (23+, 520-17), 1964 (22%+, 486-52)--those were landslides.

My threshhold for a landslide is 1980 (9.7%, 489-49). For the next few years there were heated editorials from the left claiming Reagan did not win by a landslide. I think you gotta get at least those kind of numbers to make the claim.