Forwarded email purports to analyze the results of the 2000 (or 2008) U.S. presidential election in terms of the population density and murder rates of parts of the country that voted Democratic vs. Republican.
Description: Forwarded email
Circulating since: 2000
Status: Mostly false
Example #1:
Email contributed by Stacey E., Dec. 11, 2008:
Unreported '08 Election Stats
INTERESTING FACTS --- Some unreported stats about the 2008 election
Professor Joseph Olson of Hamline University School of Law, St. Paul, Minnesota, points out some interesting facts concerning the 2008 Presidential election:
-Number of States won by: Democrats: 20; Republicans: 30
-Square miles of land won by: Democrats: 580,000; Republicans: 2,427,000
-Population of counties won by: Democrats: 127 million; Republicans: 143 million
-Murder rate per 100,000 residents in counties won by: Democrats: 13.2; Republicans: 2.1
Professor Olson adds: "In aggregate, the map of the territory Republican won was mostly the land owned by the taxpaying citizens. Democrat territory mostly encompassed those citizens living in rented or government-owned tenements and living off various forms of government welfare..."
Olson believes the United States is now somewhere between the "complacency and apathy" phase of Professor Tyler's definition of democracy, with some forty percent of the nation's population already having reached the "governmental dependency" phase.
--------------------------------
Notice that only in the states of Alaska and Oklahoma: All counties were won by McCain/Palin.
Example #2:
Email contributed by Richard L., Jan. 21, 2004:
Interesting... here is a thought-provoking, history-related message......
At about the time our original 13 states adopted their new constitution in 1787, Alexander Tyler, a Scottish history professor at the University of Edinborough, had this to say about the fall of the Athenian Republic some 2,000 years prior:
"A democracy is always temporary in nature; it simply cannot exist as a permanent form of government. A democracy will continue to exist up until the time that voters discover that they can vote themselves generous gifts from the public treasury. From that moment on, the majority always votes for the candidates who promise the most benefits from the public treasury, with the result that every democracy will finally collapse over loose fiscal policy, (which is) always followed by a dictatorship."
"The average age of the world's greatest civilizations from the beginning of history, has been about 200 years. During those 200 years, these nations always progressed through the following sequence:
From bondage to spiritual faith;
From spiritual faith to great courage;
From courage to liberty;
From liberty to abundance;
From abundance to complacency;
From complacency to apathy;
From apathy to dependence;
From dependence back into bondage."
Professor Joseph Olson of Hamline University School of Law, St. Paul, Minnesota, points out some interesting facts concerning the most recent Presidential election:
Population of counties won:
by Gore, 127 million;
by Bush, 143 million;
Square miles of land won:
by Gore, 580,000;
by Bush, 2,427,000;
States won:
by Gore, 19;
by Bush, 29;
Murder rate per 100,000 residents in counties won:
by Gore, 13.2;
by Bush, 2.1.
Professor Olson adds, "In aggregate, the map of the territory Bush won was (mostly) the land owned by the tax-paying citizens of this great country. Gore's territory encompassed those citizens living in government-owned tenements and living off government welfare.."
Olson believes the U.S. is now somewhere between the "apathy" and the "complacency" phase of Professor Tyler's definition of democracy; with some 40 percent of the nation's population already having reached the "governmental dependency" phase.
Example #3:
Email contributed by Burnell Y., Dec. 21, 2000:
Subject: Facts
Very interesting facts .. especially the last one!
Make of it whatever you will.
Important statistics:
Population of counties won by Gore: 127 million
Population of counties won by Bush: 143 million
Square miles of country won by Gore: 580,000
Square miles of country won by Bush: 2,427,000
States won by Gore: 19
States won by Bush: 29
Number of counties won by Gore: 677
Number of counties won by Bush: 2470
Average Murder per 100,000 residents in counties won by Gore: 13.2
Average Murder per 100,000 residents in counties won by Bush: 2.1
Professor Joseph Olson
Hamline University School of Law
St. Paul, Minnesota 55104-1235
Analysis: This misleading assemblage of facts and figures was partly true when it first began circulating in 2000 but went over the line to become entirely false when it reappeared in 2008 citing all the same data under the pretext of interpreting that year's election results.
Comparing the email's figures to those reported by USA Today and Associated Press, we find most of the claims to be roughly accurate for November 2000:
ACTUAL REPORTED STATS
Population of counties won by Gore: 133,000,000
Population of counties won by Bush: 148,000,000
Square miles of country won by Gore: 577,029
Square miles of country won by Bush: 2,432,603
States won by Gore: 20
States won by Bush: 30
Number of counties won by Gore: 674
Number of counties won by Bush: 2,439
However, when it comes to the Average Murder Rates per 100,000 in the counties won by Gore vs. those won by Bush, the statistics in the email were either erroneously calculated or fabricated outright. Since the actual figures are available from government sources as raw data only, I'll rely on some number-crunching already done by David Mikkelson of Snopes.com (based on Dept. of Justice data from 1999 and 2000):
Average murder rate per 100,000 residents in counties won by Gore: 6.5
Average murder rate per 100,000 residents in counties won by Bush: 4.1
There is a difference, as you can plainly see, but the real discrepancy between the murder rates of the two voting blocs is much smaller than the 13.2 per 100,000 for Gore vs. the 2.1 per 100,000 for Bush reported in the email.
