2383: Electoral Precedent 2020

Electoral Precedent 2020

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Title text: He also broke the streak that incumbents with websites are unbeatable and Delawareans can't win, creating a new precedent: Only someone from Delaware can defeat an incumbent with a website.

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Explanation

This comic is an update to 1122: Electoral Precedent, adding "broken precedents" for the US presidential elections in 2016 and 2020. It was published six days after the 2020 election took place, and two days after most news networks "called" the election, projecting Joe Biden as the winner. The majority of the comic's panels are duplicates from 1122, with the exception of the 2012 panel (modified to show that Obama did in fact break the streak), the 2016 panel (added to reflect the election of Donald Trump), and the two 2020 panels. It continues the theme of pointing out that an arbitrary 'precedent' can always be invoked to predict the outcome of an election. Presidential elections happen rarely enough that each is a unique event, and something is always happening for the first time. Like with the other examples, the precedents mentioned here mix factors that could plausibly impact the election (such as one candidate having been impeached), with precedents that are just a product of time and chance (like a successful challenger having a website).

The final two panels again show how, no matter which candidate won in 2020, it would be a 'first' in some way. The checkmark ✓ is on the claim that is still true after this election ("No president has won after being impeached"), while the X is on the one that is no longer true ("No challenger with a website has won").

• No sitting president who was impeached was even nominated for the office again until Donald Trump. (Only two other US presidents have been impeached. Bill Clinton couldn't run again afterward due to term limits, Andrew Johnson failed to be nominated at the 1868 Democratic Convention.) Until the 2024 election, it remained true that no impeached president has ever been re-elected. After Trump's 2024 election victory, it now depends on whether you count the phrase "No President" to only apply to sitting presidents.
• Prior to the 2020 election, no challenger with a website ever won. This, however, is easily explained by the fact that incumbent presidents usually win, and websites are a fairly new technology. The last time a challenger beat an incumbent was in 1992 before Internet use was widespread. By 1996 that had changed and both the incumbent Bill Clinton campaign and the challenger Bob Dole campaign had websites that look very simple by today's standards. The title text points out that one could just as easily say that incumbents with websites are unbeatable, until that precedent was broken in 2020.

The 2020 election was also precedent breaking in a few ways that Randall didn't mention:

• At 78, Joe Biden was the oldest president ever on the day of his inauguration.
• Biden's running mate Kamala Harris is the first-ever female vice president, first Black vice president, and the first Asian vice president (her parents are from Jamaica and India). She's also the first Democratic vice president from the West.
• Biden received over 80 million votes, the highest ever, beating Obama 2008's previous record of just under 69.5 million votes. The second-highest raw vote total was for Trump, with approximately 74.2 million votes, also beating Obama 2008. Turnout as a percentage of the eligible population was the highest in over a century. Unlike the other precedents, however, this one was not an inevitable outcome of a Biden-Harris victory.

Also, Biden is the first president from the state of Delaware, thus he broke the "precedent" that Delawareans can't win. Randall then proceeds to combine these 2 facts to create a new precedent: Only Delawareans can defeat incumbents with a website.

All the way up to the 2024 election, no president had ever been re-elected after being impeached. There were only ever three official impeachments, with Nixon facing "inquiries", but given that a president would have to very badly mess up (such as having an affair with a secretary or bugging high ranking officials offices) it would be thought extremely unlikely that the public would support such an individual should they seek to rerun for office, and he indeed failed to do so in 2020. However, even though Donald Trump had faced an impeachment (and now also possible jail time, for separate issues), he subsequently won with a majority of vote in 2024.

Had this exact same test been proposed again in the next election, in view of the same candidate, it would have proven untrue once President-Elect Donald Trump broke that particular impeachment 'curse'. There was no actual attempt to (re)establish this hurdle in the run-up to the 2024 cycle, nor was it ever mentioned which barrier it might have been that his opponent did not overcome.

Broken precedents

Year	Broken precedent	Explanation	Validity
1788	No one has been elected president before. ... But Washington was.	Discounting the Articles of Confederation and its president, Washington is the first president of the United States.	True
1792	No incumbent has ever been reelected. ... Until Washington.	Washington is the first person who had a second term. He was unopposed so there was no challenger.	True
1796	No one without false teeth has become president. ... But Adams did.	Washington had false teeth, made of human teeth and other materials. His successor Adams, despite having tooth decay, refused to wear false teeth.	True
1800	No challenger has beaten an incumbent. ... But Jefferson did.	Adams is the first president not to have a second term, due to signing the unpopular Alien and Sedition Acts. He was defeated by the challenger, Jefferson.	True
1804	No incumbent has beaten a challenger. ... Until Jefferson.	The 2 previous incumbents were Washington, who was unopposed, and Adams, who lost as an incumbent (to Jefferson).	True
1808	No congressman has ever become president. ... Until Madison.	While John Adams and Thomas Jefferson had both served in the Continental Congress, and Jefferson served in Congress under the Articles of Confederation, Madison was the first former congressman to have served in the U.S. Congress under the Constitution, having represented Virginia's 5th district from 1789 to 1793 and the 15th District from 1793 to 1797.	True
1812	No one can win without New York. ... But Madison did.	While it is true New York voted against Madison but he still won, New York did not vote for Washington due to an internal dispute.	False
1816	No candidate who doesn't wear a wig can get elected. ... Until Monroe was.	Despite popular misconception, Washington did not wear a wig, but in fact powdered his hair white.	False
1820	No one who wears pants instead of breeches can be reelected. ... But Monroe was.	The first 5 presidents, including Monroe, all wore breeches.	False
1824	No one has ever won without a popular majority. ... J.Q. Adams did.	Jackson won the plurality of the popular vote and Electoral College. But as it was a four way election, he did not achieve a majority - so the vote went to Congress, who elected John Quincy Adams.	True
1828	Only people from Massachusetts and Virginia can win. ... Until Jackson did.	Jackson was from South Carolina, while all previous presidents were from Massachusetts or Virginia.	True
1832	The only presidents who get reelected are Virginians. ... Until Jackson.	Washington, Jefferson, Madison and Monroe were the only re-elected presidents at that time, and they were all Virginians.	True
1836	New Yorkers always lose. ... Until Van Buren.	Martin Van Buren is the first president from the state of New York.	True
1840	No one over 65 has won the presidency. ... Until Harrison did.	He was 68 and the first over 65, and died of pneumonia 31 days after giving the longest inauguration to date.	True
1844	No one who's lost his home state has won. ... But Polk did.	If "home state" refers to the state of residence, Polk is the first, losing Tennessee to Clay but took 15 of the 26 states including New York. However, if you count it as state of birth, Jackson and Harrison already did.	Maybe
1848	As goes Mississippi, so goes the nation. ... Until 1848.	Prior to 1848, every candidate who had won the state of Mississippi had won the election, with the only exception being the 1824 election, where John Quincy Adams was elected by Congress, due to no one winning the Electoral College. In 1848, Lewis Cass won the state of Mississippi, but lost the election to Zachary Taylor.	True
1852	New England Democrats can't win. ... Until Pierce did.	Pierce is the first candidate from the Democratic Party from New England, specifically New Hampshire, and he won the election of 1852.	True
1856	No one can become president without getting married. ... Until Buchanan did.	While other presidents were widowers, Buchanan was the first unmarried president, being a life long bachelor.	True
1860	No one over 6'3" can get elected. ... Until Lincoln.	Lincoln was the first president over 6'3" president, at 6'4" tall, making him the tallest president to date.	True
1864	No one with a beard has been reelected. ... But Lincoln was.	Lincoln was the first U.S. president to have a beard.	True
1868	No one can be president if their parents are alive. ... Until Grant.	The veracity depends on if BOTH parents have to be alive, or if any parents are alive. If either parent can be alive, then Washington's mother, Mary Ball Washington, died four months after he became president. If both have to be alive, Grant was indeed the first president to have both parents alive when assuming office.	Maybe
1872	No one with a beard has been reelected in peacetime. ... Until Grant was.	Grant was the second U.S. president (behind Lincoln) to be reelected with a beard, but only Grant was reelected during peacetime.	True
1876	No one can win a majority of the popular vote and still lose. ... Tilden did.	Samuel Tilden won a majority of the popular vote, with 51%, but lost in the electoral college in a contested election, resolved by the Compromise of 1877. (During the election of 1824, Jackson won the popular vote but did not win more than half of it, a majority)	True
1880	As goes California, so goes the nation. ... Until it went Hancock.	Since being a state in 1850, the winner of California had won the election - until 1880 when Winfield Hancock won California but lost the election to James Garfield.	True
1884	Candidates named "James" can't lose. ... Until James Blaine.	James Blaine was the first major candidate with the first name "James" to lose an election, losing to Grover Cleveland.	True
1888	No sitting president has been beaten since the Civil War. ... Cleveland was.	Grover Cleveland was the first president since the end of the Civil War to be defeated by a challenger, losing to Benjamin Harrison. Andrew Johnson was not chosen as the Democratic candidate in 1868. Ulysses S. Grant served 2 terms and did not run for a 3rd term. Rutherford B. Hayes and Chester A. Arthur (who became president after the assassination of James Garfield) did not seek reelection after their first term.	True
1892	No former president has been elected. ... Until Cleveland.	Cleveland was the first (and, prior to 2025, only) president to serve two non-consecutive terms, winning the presidential election in 1884, losing in 1888 and winning in 1892.	True
1896	Tall Midwesterners are unbeatable. ... Bryan wasn't.	William Jennings Bryan lost the 1896 election to William McKinley. Bryan's measurements have been lost to history, but contemporary historians described him as "a tall, slender, handsome fellow".	True
1900	No Republican shorter than 5'8" has been reelected. ... Until McKinley was.	At the time, McKinley was only the 3rd Republican who was reelected (behind Lincoln and Grant). And he was the shortest of them all, at 5'7" tall.	True
1904	No one under 45 has been elected. ... Roosevelt was.	At the start of his presidency, Theodore Roosevelt was the youngest president, taking office at the age of 42 when McKinley died in 1901. However, he was not elected President until 1904, by which time he was no longer under 45. The precedent was broken in 1960 when Kennedy was elected at age 43.	False
1908	No Republican who hasn't served in the military has won. ... Until Taft.	Taft was the first Republican to win an election and not serve in the military - Lincoln served during the Black Hawk War; Grant, Hayes, Garfield, Benjamin Harrison, and McKinley served in the Civil War; and Theodore Roosevelt served in the Spanish-American War.	True
1912	After Lincoln beat the Democrats while sporting a beard with no mustache, the only Democrats who can win have a mustache with no beard. ... Wilson had neither.	From Lincoln's presidency to Wilson's, only one Democrat won- Grover Cleveland, who had a mustache but no beard.	True
1916	No Democrat has won while losing West Virginia. ... Wilson did.	Since its statehood in 1863, Wilson is the first Democrat to lose West Virginia, but win the national election.	True
1920	No incumbent senator has won. ... Until Harding.	Harding was the first sitting Senator to become President - he resigned his position as Senator to become President.	True
1924	No one with two Cs in their name has become president. ... Until Calvin Coolidge.	Calvin Coolidge was the first with "two C's in his name". Presidents with "one C" in their names prior to Coolidge were John Quincy Adams, Andrew Jackson, Zachary Taylor, Franklin Pierce, James Buchanan, Abraham Lincoln, Chester A. Arthur, Grover Cleveland and William McKinley.	True
1928	No one who got ten million votes has lost. ... Until Al Smith.	Smith was the first candidate to get more than 10 million votes and lose. He received over 15 million votes, but lost to Herbert Hoover, who received 21.4 million votes, and won the electoral college, 444-87.	True
1932	No Democrat has won since women secured the right to vote. ... Until FDR did.	FDR was the first Democrat to win since 1919 when women secured the right to vote.	True
1936	No President's been reelected with double-digit unemployment. ... Until FDR was.	FDR was reelected during the Great Depression when unemployment peaked at 22-25%.	True
1940	No one has won a third term. ... Until FDR did.	FDR is the first and only president to be elected for 4 terms due to his popularity/policies. This is now made impossible by the 22nd amendment, which limits a president to 2 elected terms.	True
1944	No Democrat has won during wartime. ... Until FDR did.	The United States has engaged in many minor wars near-constantly since its formation, although it being "wartime" in the country for many of these is debatable. Martin Van Buren won during the Second Seminole War, Franklin Pierce won during the Cayuse war and Apache war, James Buchanan won during Bleeding Kansas, the Third Seminole War, the Yakima War, and the Second Opium War, Grover Cleveland won during the Garza Revolution, and Woodrow Wilson won during the Border War, the Occupation of Nicaragua, the Occupation of Haiti, and the Occupation of the Dominican Republic. FDR was, however, the first Democrat to win election to the presidency while the United States was fighting a declared war.	False
1948	Democrats can't win without Alabama. ... Truman did.	Although technically true, the Democrat party did not appear on the ballot in Alabama in 1948, making it impossible for them to have won under any circumstances. It's also worth noting that Alabama had consistently voted Democrat in every election since Alabama's formation as a state except for 1864, when it was in the confederate states, and in 1868 and 1872, where Ulysses S. Grant would win both times. A democrat would not lose a popular vote in Alabama while appearing on the ballot until 1968, and would not win an election while losing the vote in Alabama until 1992.	True
1952	No Republican has won without winning the House or Senate. ... Eisenhower did.	Republicans won control of both the House and Senate in 1952. This precedent would be broken in 1956 after Democrats flipped both chambers in 1954.	True
1956	No one can beat the same nominee a second time in a leap year rematch. ... Until Eisenhower.	The phrase "leap year" excludes the elections of 1800 and 1900, which were not leap years in the U.S. or most other countries (although they were leap years in Russia, which was still using the Julian calendar).	True
1960	Catholics can't win. ... Kennedy beat Nixon.	The only other Catholic to be nominated until 1960 was Democrat Alfred E. Smith in 1928.	True
1964	Every Republican who's taken Louisiana has won. ... Until Goldwater.	Prior to 1964, only two Republicans had won Louisiana: Rutherford Hayes in 1876 and Dwight Eisenhower in 1956. Both won, however in 1876 the election in Louisiana was contested until the Compromise of 1877 resolved it in favor of Hayes.	True
1968	No Republican vice president has risen to the Presidency through an election. ... Until Nixon.	Theodore Roosevelt, the winner of the 1904 election, was a Republican former Vice President, but he had already risen to the Presidency in 1901 when McKinley died in office.	True
1972	Quakers can't win twice. ... Until Nixon did.	The only Quaker president before Nixon was Herbert Hoover. Hoover only served one term.	True
1976	No one who lost New Mexico has won. ... But Carter did.	From its statehood in 1912 to 1972, New Mexico had been a reliable bellwether state. (The 1976 election is still, as of 2021, the only one where the winner of the popular vote did not take New Mexico.)	True
1980	No one has been elected President after a divorce. ... Until Reagan was.	Reagan was the first divorced President.	True
1984	No left-handed president has been reelected. ... Until Reagan was.	Reagan is one of 8 left-handed presidents (as of 2022). None of the 4 left-handed presidents prior to Reagan was reelected (James Garfield was assassinated in his first year in office, Gerald Ford was never elected at all, and Herbert Hoover and Harry Truman only served one full term each).	True
1988	No one with two middle names has become president. ... Until "Herbert Walker".	George H. W. Bush is the first and to date only president with 2 middle names.	True
1992	No Democrat has won without a majority of the Catholic vote. ... Until Clinton did.	The exact breakdown of the Catholic vote in each individual election is unknown until the advent of demographic-based exit polling, however Catholics have historically been strongly Democratic until 1968. In 1976, Carter won an estimated 54-57% of the Catholic vote, while in 1992 Bill Clinton only won 44% due to the independent campaign of Ross Perot.	True
1996	No Dem. incumbent without combat experience has beaten someone whose first name is worth more in Scrabble. ... Until Bill beat Bob.	This refers to Bill Clinton and Bob Dole. However, their legal names are William Jefferson Clinton and Robert Joseph Dole. Their first names are William (worth 12 points) and Robert (worth 8 points), not Bill and Bob.	False
2000	No Republican has won without Vermont. ... Until Bush did.	Vermont had voted for Republicans in every presidential election from 1856 (the first contested by the Republicans) to 1988, with the exception of 1964. George W. Bush was indeed the first Republican to win the presidency while losing Vermont.	True
2004	No Republican without combat experience has beaten someone two inches taller. ... Until Bush did.	John Kerry served for 4 months in the Vietnam war, while George Bush has no combat experience. John Kerry is 11 cm taller than George Bush which is actually about 4.3 inches, not 2. Assuming "two inches taller" means *at least* two inches taller and not *about* two inches taller, then Randall is correct.	Maybe
2008	No Democrat can win without Missouri. ... Until Obama did.	Missouri had been a Democratic stronghold for the later half of the 19th century and was a key bellwether state from 1904 to 2004. Obama is the first Democrat to win without Missouri, and 2008 is considered the year when Missouri ceased being a bellwether.	True
2012	Democratic incumbents never beat taller challengers. ... Until Obama did.	Mitt Romney stood 6' 2", an inch taller than President Obama. Nonetheless, Obama was re-elected for a second term.	True
2016	No one has become president without government or military experience. ... Until Trump did.	Every president prior to Trump had either been a general in the US Army, a congressman, a state governor, or a cabinet member.	True
2020?	No one has won after being impeached. ✓	None of the two prior presidents who were impeached even ran for re-election. This was the first time this specific condition had even been tested. Trump was impeached, ran and lost, so this test remained true at this point in history. However come the 2024 election Trump ran again and won, so now this test is now false.	True in 2020 ...  Until Trump did.
	No challenger with a website has won. X	The possibility of having a website only arose in the 1990s and Bill Clinton seems to not have had one when he succeeded Bush Sr. Although websites became increasingly ubiquitous, no president since had ever been defeated by their respective challengers.	True ...  Until Biden did.

Transcript

The problem with statements like

"No <party> candidate has won the election without <state>"

Or

"No president has been reelected under <circumstances>"

★ Updated for 2020 ★

[Each statement below has its own panel. The year is in a caption, the precedent is stated by a standing Cueball in the main panel, and the president who broke it is below the panel.]

1788... No one has been elected president before. ... But Washington was.

1792... No incumbent has ever been reelected. ... Until Washington.

1796... No one without false teeth has become president. ... But Adams did.

1800... No challenger has beaten an incumbent. ... But Jefferson did.

1804... No incumbent has beaten a challenger. ... Until Jefferson.

1808... No congressman has ever become president. ... Until Madison.

1812... No one can win without New York. ... But Madison did.

1816... No candidate who doesn't wear a wig can get elected. ... Until Monroe was.

1820... No one who wears pants instead of breeches can be reelected. ... But Monroe was.

1824... No one has ever won without a popular majority. ... J.Q. Adams did.

1828... Only people from Massachusetts and Virginia can win. ... Until Jackson did.

1832... The only presidents who get reelected are Virginians. ... Until Jackson.

1836... New Yorkers always lose. ... Until Van Buren.

1840... No one over 65 has won the presidency. ... Until Harrison did.

1844... No one who's lost his home state has won. ... But Polk did.

1848... As goes Mississippi, so goes the nation. ... Until 1848.

1852... New England Democrats can't win. ... Until Pierce did.

1856... No one can become president without getting married. ... Until Buchanan did.

1860... No one over 6'3" can get elected. ... Until Lincoln.

1864... No one with a beard has been reelected. ... But Lincoln was.

1868... No one can be president if their parents are alive. ... Until Grant.

1872... No one with a beard has been reelected in peacetime. ... Until Grant was.

1876... No one can win a majority of the popular vote and still lose. ... Tilden did.

1880... As goes California, so goes the nation. ... Until it went Hancock.

1884... Candidates named "James" can't lose. ... Until James Blaine.

1888... No sitting president has been beaten since the Civil War. ... Cleveland was.

1892... No former president has been elected. ... Until Cleveland.

1896... Tall Midwesterners are unbeatable. ... Bryan wasn't.

1900... No Republican shorter than 5'8" has been reelected. ... Until McKinley was.

1904... No one under 45 has been elected. ... Roosevelt did.

1908... No Republican who hasn't served in the military has won. ... Until Taft.

[The precedent takes up the entire panel this year. Consequently, there is no Cueball.] 1912... After Lincoln beat the Democrats while sporting a beard with no mustache, the only Democrats who can win have a mustache with no beard. ... Wilson had neither.

1916... No Democrat has won while losing West Virginia. ... Wilson did.

1920... No incumbent senator has won. ... Until Harding.

1924... No one with two Cs in their name has become president. ... Until Calvin Coolidge.

1928... No one who got ten million votes has lost. ... Until Al Smith.

1932... No Democrat has won since women secured the right to vote. ... Until FDR did.

1936... No president's been reelected with double-digit unemployment. ... Until FDR was.

1940... No one has won a third term. ... Until FDR did.

1944... No Democrat has won during wartime. ... Until FDR did.

1948... Democrats can't win without Alabama. ... Truman did.

1952... No Republican has won without winning the House or Senate. ... Eisenhower did.

1956... No one can beat the same nominee a second time in a leap year rematch. ... Until Eisenhower.

1960... Catholics can't win. ... Until Kennedy.

1964... Every Republican who's taken Louisiana has won. ... Until Goldwater.

[The panel is zoomed in on Cueball's head in this frame.] 1968... No Republican vice president has risen to the Presidency through an election. ... Until Nixon.

[The panel is zoomed in on Cueball's head in this frame.] 1972... Quakers can't win twice. ... Until Nixon did.

1976... No one who lost New Mexico has won. ... But Carter did.

1980... No one has been elected president after a divorce. ... Until Reagan was.

1984... No left-handed president has been reelected. ... Until Reagan was.

[The panel is zoomed in on Cueball's head in this frame.] 1988... No one with two middle names has become president. ... Until "Herbert Walker".

[The panel is zoomed in on Cueball's head in this frame.] 1992... No Democrat has won without a majority of the Catholic vote. ... Until Clinton did.

[The precedent takes up the entire panel this year. Consequently, there is no Cueball.] 1996... No Dem. incumbent without combat experience has beaten someone whose first name is worth more in Scrabble. ... Until Bill beat Bob.

2000... No Republican has won without Vermont. ... Until Bush did.

[The panel is zoomed in on Cueball's head in this frame.] 2004... No Republican without combat experience has beaten someone two inches taller ... Until Bush did.

2008... No Democrat can win without Missouri. ... Until Obama did.

2012... Democratic incumbents never beat taller challengers. ... Until Obama did.

[The panel is zoomed in on Cueball's head in this frame.] 2016... No one has become president without government or military experience. ... Until Trump did.

2020? No one has won after being impeached. ✓

2020? No challenger with a website has won. X

[Caption below the comic]

Congratulations to President-Elect Joe Biden for breaking the website curse!

Trivia

• In the original version of this comic, the "2016 ..." panel had a ghost image of the original 2012 2nd "streak": "No nominee whose first name contains a "K" has lost." This was likely caused by the fact that Randall seems to have used the same image as 1122: Electoral Precedent but forgot to remove it before publishing the comic. The ghost image was later removed.
• However, the panels for past elections that were false before continue to be wrong, including 1812, 1816, 1820, 1904, and 1952. See the table above for details for each year.

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Discussion

Can anyone identify the faded background text in the 2016 panel?

Is there some shadow text behind the main text in the 2016 square? I can barely make it out. It looks like "No nominee whose first name contains a "k" has lost", which would be the same from the 1122 comic. ChunyangD (talk) 00:54, 10 November 2020 (UTC)

It's the alternative text from the 2016 one: "No nominee whose first name contains a "K" has lost." 172.69.235.143 00:58, 10 November 2020 (UTC)

I replaced the image in this article. It looks like Randall fixed the image on xkcd.com to get rid of the shadow text. Natg19 (talk) 21:53, 11 November 2020 (UTC)

I'm quite sure that Obama did in fact have a campaign website in 2008 when he was a challenger. See http://www.4president.us/websites/2008/barackobama2008website.htm Bobjr (talk) 01:15, 10 November 2020 (UTC)

I think "challenger" means that they're going against the incumbent. Obama was up against McCain, who wasn't an incumbent. Barmar (talk) 01:31, 10 November 2020 (UTC)

Should be added to the original explanation. 162.158.159.132 00:16, 12 November 2020 (UTC)

How much do we want the explanation for this one to repeat what is in that of 1122?--Troy0 (talk) 01:19, 10 November 2020 (UTC)

We shouldn't. If the explanation of 1122 is missing something it should be added there. Elektrizikekswerk (talk) 08:21, 10 November 2020 (UTC)

There is much to do on the original - like where some of the presidents were, how tall were the presidents beofre Lincoln etc. It is eight years old we hould have done this. 162.158.159.132 00:16, 12 November 2020 (UTC)

Didn't Clinton win after being impeached? Alcatraz ii (talk) 01:21, 10 November 2020 (UTC)

Yes, he was impeached during his first term. Barmar (talk) 01:31, 10 November 2020 (UTC)

No, this is not true, Clinton was impeached during his 2nd term, in 1998, and he was not eligible for a 3rd term. George W. Bush won the following presidential election in 2000. 172.69.34.42 01:35, 10 November 2020 (UTC)

You could also say Joe was the first President with a rescue dog Squire80513 (talk) 01:57, 10 November 2020 (UTC)Squire80513

Does not Lyndon B Johnson's dog, Yuki, count? 162.158.159.128 02:30, 10 November 2020 (UTC)

LBJ's Yuki was a "rescue" (found wandering aimlessly around a gas station) but not a "shelter" dog. Joe's dog is the first first canine from a shelter. It's subtle distinction that many repeating the statistic miss MAP (talk) 03:08, 10 November 2020 (UTC)

Point of order, why is Biden being referred to as president elect? I was under the impression that the term shouldn't be used until the dispute is resolved. With several pending legal cases and the votes uncertified by the states.172.69.170.142 03:45, 10 November 2020 (UTC)

All major media sources have called the race for Biden as of Saturday, November 8th. XKCD, and this wiki, will follow the lead of the Associated Press or New York Times, both of whom say the race has concluded and Joe Biden is the president elect. 162.158.62.93 04:48, 10 November 2020 (UTC)

Except for one of the most trusted- RealClearPolitics.com still has Pennsylvania up for grabs due to lawsuits and is about to move Michigan back into play after a poll worker claimed that a delivery of Biden-only votes came into a Detroit counting room at 3:30 am on November 4.Seebert (talk) 14:26, 10 November 2020 (UTC)

Your assertion of trust without reason comes across as fake news; however, I checked the web.archive.org history for realclearpolitics.com, and it has over a decade of history. I also visited the site and at a cursor glance it might have rational articles from both political sides, which seems commendable. If it is actually trustworthy, why didn't you explain that it is and why it is, given the current news environment? 162.158.62.77 14:53, 10 November 2020 (UTC)

My bad, I had assumed that the trio of sites covering the electoral college, 270toWin, RealClearPolitics, and 538 were all well known and respected sites by now, after having played a big role in the last 4 elections. Seebert (talk) 15:25, 10 November 2020 (UTC)

Not only that, but A) while "the votes uncertified by the states" may influence the exact total, they can't make Trump win, B) a Trump victory would require that ALL legal cases are resolved in Trump's favor (depending on uncertified votes) and C) the Republican party asked to Trump to concede victory, meaning that nobody with political experience believes those legal cases have a chance of success. The only unknown point is the result of the EC election, but it is naturally assumed they will vote for the elected candidate.172.69.55.104 08:29, 10 November 2020 (UTC)

"Presumptive president elect" would be more accurate (and I say this as someone that voted for Biden). --108.162.219.72 10:06, 10 November 2020 (UTC)

I don't understand how the statement for 1876 could have been true: if J.Q. Adams won in 1824 without a popular majority, then his opponent won the majority and still lost, so Tilden couldn't have been the first in 1876 to win the majority and lose?141.101.98.38 08:54, 10 November 2020 (UTC)

Simple: there were more than two candidates. In 1824, there were four candidates who each got over 10% of the vote. That's how Adams could win without the majority, without one of his opponents then having the majority. (In fact, Jackson had the plurality of the votes, but not the majority, but Adams was elected by the House.) --141.101.98.74 11:30, 10 November 2020 (UTC)

Thanks!162.158.159.96 16:57, 10 November 2020 (UTC)

More details: 1824 United States presidential election. Jackson only got about 41% of the popular vote (in states that had one -- not all did back then), and 99 out of 261 electoral votes (~38%). Nobody got enough votes in enough states for an electoral majority, so the election went to Congress. --Aaron of Mpls (talk) 00:41, 11 November 2020 (UTC)

Bad with formatting here, but I updated the bit about precedent to include that Trump's raw vote total (approx 71.5 million, also not yet certified) is also breaking the precedent set by Obama in 2008. Love them or hate them, in this high-turnout election, both major party candidates had record numbers for their raw vote totals. Trump doesn't make it to first place above Obama because Biden makes it to first place above Trump. I didn't look into whether the percentage of eligible population numbers are different, but higher turnout combined with higher population makes breaking that barrier a little easier.108.162.238.5 13:02, 10 November 2020 (UTC)

Especially since poll workers were caught on camera in Wisconsin putting Trump Votes upside-down into the scanner, but scanning Biden votes correctly.Seebert (talk) 14:26, 10 November 2020 (UTC)

How was this discovered? How can we hunt down more occurrences? Did the machine reject the ballots and the people fix the error? (and what are the ramifications of a camera recording vote ballots?) There is no reason to not suspect the opposite happens too: that anybody's votes could be put in upside down. 162.158.62.77 14:55, 10 November 2020 (UTC)

It's part of the lawsuit based on a complaint from an observer. But there is an easy way to track down and correct this problem on both sides- hold a recount.Seebert (talk) 15:25, 10 November 2020 (UTC)

I have not found a reference to any current Wisconsin lawsuit. Seems like you should either document the claims or delete them.172.68.174.126 23:13, 10 November 2020 (UTC)

The scanners read both sides of the ballot, and the ballot has markings so it knows which side is the front and which is the back. It doesn't matter which way you feed them into the scanner. --162.158.78.164 17:26, 11 November 2020 (UTC)

Honestly, the outcome's still not 100%, so, if, by some stroke of (bad?) luck, Trump becomes president again, then the precedents might change.- another user

Is it just me, or is Randall using this comic as an excuse to throw some shade on Trump? The two squares about Trump are "he has no military experience or political experience" and "he got impeached and then lost." He could've picked more neutral things (his age perhaps, or his appearance on WWE or something) so these choices seem pretty deliberate and, pointed, shall we say? 172.69.63.183 00:13, 11 November 2020 (UTC)

It's still in keeping with the other 'serious' precedents in prior elections, like not winning without a specific state, or having/not having certain experience. --Aaron of Mpls (talk) 00:41, 11 November 2020 (UTC)

By Randall's standards, this "shade" is fairly mild. We already know that Randall is not a fan of Trump. The fact that Trump had no government or military experience, unlike all previous presidents, was well-known. And if Randall ever updates this strip after a future election, the item about Trump having been impeached wouldn't even be mentioned because that precedent wasn't broken. --172.68.65.22 02:40, 11 November 2020 (UTC)

If he wanted to throw shade at trump, it could've been something like "No candidate has been elected after admitting on tape to grabbing womens' crotches without consent", not something mild like not coming from a government or military background (which Trump bragged about). --162.158.78.164 17:44, 11 November 2020 (UTC)

Why replace something enormously important with something neutral? Trump was the first person to be elected who had zero prior practical experience related to the office of President, and the results have been painfully obvious. These Are Not The Comments You Are Looking For (talk) 19:20, 17 November 2020 (UTC)

Speaking of replacing something important with something utterly irrelevant, Biden’s accomplishment was having a website?? NOT finally breaking the rule “no one has ever been elected with a female running-mate (until Biden)”???? I hope that when Randall updates this, he’ll get rid of the website trivia and replace it with something that actually matters.172.70.211.18 13:42, 24 January 2022 (UTC)

This could have had a different precedent broken, though obviously not if Randall is an anti-Trumper: "No challenger who was embroiled in graft, extortion of foreign leaders, and abuse of political position while having a fawning media hide it all ever won the election - until Biden did"... 108.162.219.81 06:38, 24 February 2021 (UTC)

You have a lot of confidence in the integrity of politicians who are not Biden. GreatWyrmGold (talk) 18:28, 24 November 2023 (UTC)

Since Trump isn't from Delaware and Biden has a website, we can probably guess the outcome of he 2024 election. GreatWyrmGold (talk) 18:28, 24 November 2023 (UTC)

Table

If you really feel the need to explain every item in a table then please do so in comic 1122 as this is the original. Elektrizikekswerk (talk) 18:25, 10 November 2020 (UTC)

I removed the redundant options, sorry - user who made table (...Unsigned)

When I changed the word from "Redundant" (I know what you meant, just that's not quite right) I was hoping to #anchor the link to the prior comic exactly upon the new(?) section someone set up with the previously-relevent lines of table. But it turns out there's only two href="#..."s on that page, and no section titles are given that honour (unlike, say, wikipedia's Table Of Contents entries) I don't want to try to mess with the expkcd wiki at that level of things, but I think it'd be slightly more useful to set that up than it would cost in effort (i.e. a slightly larger version of 'barely'). That's my suggestion, anyway. Just putting it out there. 141.101.98.216 23:52, 10 November 2020 (UTC)

Is there some joke to trump being impeached?

I thought he was acquitted, I checked wikipedia and they say he was acquitted. I'm not American if this is some in joke in America you guys may need to explain it. Thank you :) 108.162.250.87 00:30, 11 November 2020 (UTC)

He was impeached, which is an equivalent to being indicted (i.e. being formally charged with a crime, but in a way necessary to deal with statutory protections and obligations of elected officials), but at the next stage was (almost inevitably) acquitted. Because politics. (For some the impeachment was politics, for some the acquittal was politics. There'll be overlap, but also a very partisan split between those that definitely consider just the one of them to be politics, but not the same one.) 162.158.158.7 00:57, 11 November 2020 (UTC)

Or to put it another way, "impeached" in U.S. law doesn't mean "removed from office". The House of Representatives impeached Trump, but he was not convicted by the Senate; had he been convicted, he would have been removed from office. In fact, none of the three presidents who were impeached (Andrew Johnson, Bill Clinton, and Trump) were convicted by the Senate. --172.68.65.22 02:40, 11 November 2020 (UTC)

What's up with the checkmark and X?

Shouldn't they be reversed? Biden won, so the panel about the website should be added to the comic. Doesn't that mean that panel should have the checkmark on it?

172.69.170.56 04:20, 11 November 2020 (UTC)

That confused me too for a second, but then I realized what was meant - checkmark is on the claim that is still true after this election ("No president has won after being impeached"), while X is on the one that is no longer true ("No challenger with a website has won"). BytEfLUSh (talk) 04:40, 11 November 2020 (UTC)

Could someone add this into the explanation? I didn't get this either. 172.68.189.245 16:45, 11 November 2020 (UTC)

Could also note that Biden is the first Presidential Medal of Freedom holder to be elected to the Presidency. (All other presidents so-honored have been awarded the PMoF after their term in office.)

For the 2024 election, we have: if Harris wins - No woman can become President... until Harris. if Trump wins - No Republican has been re-elected after losing... until Trump. 172.69.34.190 18:40, 10 September 2024 (UTC)

Randall doesn't update this comic when his candidate doesn't win, so don't expect an updated version until at least 2036.172.71.23.88 21:47, 7 November 2024 (UTC)

Trump won, being the first convicted felon president! -tori 172.69.134.149 21:57, 7 November 2024 (UTC)
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