Could anyone have defeated Alfred Landon in 1936?

[A18]

No. The Landon landslide was inevitable.

[True Federalist (진정한 연방 주의자)]

Of course not.  As Maine goes, so goes the nation after all.

[Dr. Cynic]

No.... Ooops! Except for that "evil communist lover" Franklin Delano Roosevelt.... Yes, he could have... In fact, I'd lay money on it!

[Bacon King]

The election was obviously rigged.

[Colin]

The election was obviously rigged.

Well of course. Who doesn't know that?

[Michael Z]

Indeed. The Landon Landslide was just as inevitable as McGovern's massive sweep of all the states in 1972 and Mondale's equally impressive landslide victory against Reagan in 1984.

[Dr. Cynic]

Of course what most people forget is that those survey'd had telephones... Only the wealthy or upper middle class had phones at the time, which is why the polls were skewered.

[TomC]

Of course what most people forget is that those survey'd had telephones... Only the wealthy or upper middle class had phones at the time, which is why the polls were skewered.

From the link:

The 1936 postal card poll claimed to have asked one forth of the nation’s voters which candidate they intended to vote for. In Literary Digest's October 31 issue, based on more than 2,000,000 returned post cards, it issued its prediction:

[True Federalist (진정한 연방 주의자)]

The mailing list they sent those post cards out to was compiled by combining their own subscriber base with lists of automobile registrations and of telephone users.  Besides asking who people intended to vote for they also asked them if they wasnt to subscribe, which was the primary reason the LD did the poll in the first place.

[Michael Z]

Of course most of these polls are flawed if the sample isn't properly representative. Just check out our very own mock election, which has Kerry winning 498 electoral votes and Badnarik winning NH and GA (and Peroutka winning Idaho and Utah).