Biden: "We represent the majority of the American people"

by mindgeek, Wed Apr 27, 2005 at 02:05:00 PM EDT

In the comments, some have asked whether or not this applies to the population of states represented by Democratic and Republican Senators as well. It does. The 45 Democratic Senators represent 296,673,557 people, while the 55 Republican Senators represent 289,532,423 people, according to the July 1st, 2004 population estimates by the census bureau. Another way of looking at it is that 174,919,609 people are represented by at least one Democratic Senator, and 171,349,042 people are represented by at least one Republican Senator. So, pretty much anyway you look at it, Biden is right. Democrats in the Senate represent the majority.Chris

Today on C-SPAN, Senator Joe Biden is making/has just made a speech on the proposed rule change on filibusters of judicial nominations - the "nuclear option." He made an interesting statement, that "we [i.e. Democrats] represent the majority of the American people." This is interesting and true. 51% of voters since 2000 have voted for Democrats, 49% for Republicans.

One way to calculate this is to add up the total number of votes cast for Democratic and Republican Senate candidates for the last three elections, a period of time in which all 100 Senate seats have come up for election once. That total is:

Dem 100,494,879 (51%)
Rep 97,276,977 (49%)

Here are details of the calculation:
http://clerk.house.gov/members/electionInfo/2004/Table.htm
http://clerk.house.gov/members/electionInfo/2002/Table.htm
http://clerk.house.gov/members/electionInfo/2000/Table.htm

Year R D
2004 39920562 44754618
2002 20630984 18959386
2000 36725431 36780875

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He could also mean.

That the populations of the states represented by the Democratic Senators is more than that of the republican Senators. Which I think is also correct even if you split the populations of the states with one of each party.

by Delver Rootnose 2005-04-27 12:06PM | 0 recs

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perhaps

I thought of that. However, it's a more indirect calculation, and in my view a shakier argument because, as you point out, of the split-senator problem (for example, how to score Oregon).

by mindgeek 2005-04-27 12:17PM | 0 recs

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Some states, like California

have two Senators from the same party.

in California's case, they are both Democrats..

So splitting it 50/50 isn't accurate..

by ultraworld 2005-06-06 12:12PM | 0 recs

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Polls

I figured he was just talking about the polls saying something like 70% of folks opposed the rule change.

by Aurostion 2005-04-27 12:07PM | 0 recs

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As a minor wishlist item...

...I'd love to see the same/a similar analysis done for the HR :)

by nkedel 2005-04-27 03:46PM | 0 recs

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see the Clerk's site

Go to http://clerk.house.gov/members/electionInfo/2004/Table.htm

The result is there, though you may find it less to your liking. In 2004 the total was
Rep 55,713,412 (51.4%)
Dem 52,590,729 (48.6%)

Republicans won a majority of two-party votes in 2002 and 2000 as well (the last a near-tie). However, note that these counts are less precise because in some states, uncontested races are not tallied.

by mindgeek 2005-04-27 04:05PM | 0 recs

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Another strong argument for...

Full Representation also known as Proportional Representation.

by Andrew C White 2005-04-27 05:47PM | 0 recs

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anyone know a reason

that I shouldn't support Biden in 08?

by goplies 2005-04-27 08:54PM | 0 recs

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I've got one.

He is surpassed only by Joe Lieberman in his commitment to selling out progressive values in exchange for a few grand in corporate donations.

by craverguy 2005-04-27 09:05PM | 0 recs

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Re: I've got one.

I disagree. I think he's worse than Lieberman.

by Abby 2005-04-28 07:02AM | 0 recs

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Re: anyone know a reason

Two words: Bankruptcy Bill.

by DavidNYC 2005-04-27 11:19PM | 0 recs

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Yup-he's the senator from MBNA

One could argue that any senator from Deleware would have to be the credit card companies' cavana boy, however.

by Geotpf 2005-04-28 07:14AM | 0 recs

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mkay

I really i wanted to like him.

sigh

by goplies 2005-04-27 09:28PM | 0 recs

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I'm glad a prominent Democrat is finally...

pointing out the obvious. E. J. Dionne made the same point in this column, published on March 22.

The Rethugs in the Senate say that they are the majority, and that in a democracy, the will of the majority should prevail (a doubtful premise, according to the founding fathers, but let that pass). But because of the profoundly undemocratic nature of the Senate -- which the southern states insisted upon, so that they could block moves against slavery -- the majority of senators actually represents a minority of the American people.

But this does not matter. Although Biden brought this up, the Dems will not make an issue of this, since it undermines the very legitimacy of the US system of government, as does the current corporate control of the election process, which Dems are determined not to challenge. So this will not be treated as relevant by the media, and those who do not get most of their information from the left wing of the blogosphere will not be aware of the issue.

by Alexander 2005-04-27 11:16PM | 0 recs

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Purpose of the Senate

The purpose of the Senate was never to represent the American public as closely as the House does.

The purpose of the Senate was to make wild change- due to the fickle will of the American people- difficult to enact. This is one of the many reasons the fillibuster is such an important legislative tool.

So while the numbers are nice to see, they don't really mean all that much (I don't think).

However, I am not opposed to electoral college reform. I think these numbers help show what we all believe the be true. That the majority of Americans share the ideals of the democratic party. And being swept out of government despite our popular majority is a damn difficult pill to swallow.

by jacob wi 2005-04-28 06:36AM | 0 recs

by markcqq 2005-07-20 02:10AM | 0 recs