Dem
46
Ties
2
GOP
52
As readers can probably guess, we've gotten a fair number of unpleasant e-mails since Tuesday afternoon. They fall into two broad categories. The first group are from Trumpers who are, it would seem, so hollow inside that they need to gloat, often using vulgar or violent language. (Z) learned in Little League (age 10) that gloating after a win is low-class. Guess these folks never played Little League.
The second group are from folks who are regular readers, and who say they like the site, but who felt this was the right time to tell us that we are doing it all wrong. For example, there was a correspondent who said the site should not be "90% polls" and that, really, we should get rid of the polling altogether. Many others wrote in to make that same basic point. In response, we'll note that for most of the time, there are NO polls, since there's no election underway. We probably won't have a poll again until February or March... of 2026. Second, even when there are polls, we still give most of our attention to non-poll stuff. Third, and finally, polls may be inaccurate, but they are better than any other option available.
Anyhow, that is the bad news. The good news is that for every negative e-mail (and that includes both groups we describe above) there have been at least 30 e-mails expressing gratitude and thanks. In fact the ratio might be 40:1. And if we include survey responses, the ratio jumps to something like 60:1. Anyhow, we thought we might share some of those, thinking of them as a pretty good replacement for "This Week in Freudenfreude":
J.K. in Silverdale, WA, writes: As someone who has followed Electoral-Vote.com since the humble beginnings in 2004, this site has become a valued part of my life over the last 20 years. Reading this site is how I "boot up" my brain every morning, and over the years I've recognized with ever-growing appreciation that this site has evolved from an informative blog into an interactive learning community. Beyond the substantive analysis, I come here for the breadth of perspectives and personal stories from around the world that make me laugh, cry, and understand all the ways that our political process impacts real lives. There are no words to express the gratitude I feel for (V) and (Z) for their years of service and dedication to this community.
And since our community is heading into dark times, I had an idea about how we can share some light by sharing the ways, large and small, that this site has touched our lives. If our hosts and readership like this idea, I can start us off with a silly one. This story from (Z) related the circumstances in which a candidate who licked his dinner plate clean during an interview process still landed a position as a tenured professor. Now, I would never engage in such crass behavior in public, but in the privacy of my own home if only my cats are around ...well, maybe I've engaged in occasional lingual plate cleaning, along with this thought: "Wow, I could be a professor."
R.W.O. in Camano Island, WA, writes: I'm one of your female followers since about 2015. You have guided me like a shining light all these many years. You helped keep me from despair in 2016, and I'm so grateful for that. Now we're in even deeper trouble than we were then.
It's even more important that we have a place to get political information that we can rely on. I know you're so very tired, but just know that plenty of people out here really love you and respect what you do.
And it's a plus that you coddle dachshunds!
Thank you from the depths of my soul.
C.M. in Philadelphia, PA, writes: We've all had a rough couple of days and I thought this was a good time to send a note I've been thinking about sending for a while now.
In short, THANK YOU!
I'm a big nerd who spent most of the 90s as a teen writing little video games and playing around with Linux. At some point I was lucky enough to stumble across (V)'s MINIX textbook. As I recall even the cover art—a fella with thought bubbles around his head corresponding to the major components of an OS—set me on a totally different approach to coding. Sure, finally understanding mechanisms by which system calls may be invoked was huge and exciting, but more important than that was your organized approach to software engineering: Each gizmo you described had a certain well-defined job to do. It slowly came into focus that my own software was best described as "spaghetti code."
My career (principal software engineer at a consumer electronics company) has been relatively easy (don't tell anyone!) and super fun and I owe a large part of it to an approach you helped introduce me to: organizing a solution as a group of easily understood smaller components, making sensible choices about the domain of each of those components, and thoughtfully stitching them together.
Anyways, decades later? I found myself reading Electoral-Vote.com. Mainstream news media makes me anxious and irritable and leaves me with a messy cloud of thoughts. Your distillation on Electoral-Vote.com is different. Despite the simple format it manages to be exceptionally well organized, terrible news somehow avoids provoking my fight-or-flight response, and I walk away feeling (often, anyways) a little better and (always) a lot more informed! I know you and your co-author are responsible for this tone—so I owe you both a debt of gratitude.
It probably took me a couple years to realize you were THAT Andrew Tanenbaum—and a few weeks ago I was smiling to myself about how you've unwittingly made such positive contributions to my own life in these two very different domains. I just wanted to let you know. So, thanks!
K.Y. in Chelmsford, MA, writes: No worries about the website difficulty on election night. These things happen, and as I'm sure others have joked: The server probably sensed the outcome and refused to display the data! Thank you again for your site. I plan on visiting Electoral-Vote.com even more in the future. I have always appreciated the measured and fair (no, not balanced) analysis, interesting history and civics information, and humor. I rarely watch or listen to any mainstream news anymore; both right- and left-wing outlets are just too agenda driven for my taste.
J.L. in Madison, WI, writes: I have stayed tuned into Electoral-Vote.com since the early 2000s for your news, witty insight, mapping and exceptional poll tracking.
This election was indeed a disappointment, and a lot of mud is slinging over the results and what they say about the American people in general.
No matter the results, I believe Kamala Harris did her job and you did your job very well. As a "thank you," I have made a donation and I intend to support those who continue to do their work with the best intentions despite the hate.
P.W. in Valley Village, CA, writes: Bummer of a result. When Florida was called so early, and Virginia so late, my recollection of Election Night 2016 roared back. I'm both disgusted and ashamed.
For my own mental health, I need to step away from binge-consuming political news. And that's where y'all come in.
I want to remain informed. But I don't want consuming MSNBC, the LA Times, NYT, Washington Post, Apple News to fill my news intake at the rate I've been doing. I need a measured amount from a good source. In other words, from you.
Please keep up the good work so I can remain current on what's important. Thereby providing me with a way to do so in a way that doesn't become overwhelming, and mentally debilitating.
First, if folks like the suggestion from J.K. in Silverdale, you can send your submissions to comments@electoral-vote.com. We think that many readers will find that enjoyable, not unlike looking through a yearbook or a photo album.
Second, we are very much humbled by all of the kind e-mails we've gotten this week. It is remarkable that many, many people who were at a very low point nonetheless decided to take some time to reach out to us with some kind words. It means a lot, and makes clear that: (1) we have a really great community here, and (2) there are still plenty of good-hearted people in this country. We truly thank you all, and we will see you on Monday.