Presidential losers often insist they will win as campaigns wind down

Will the words and insinuations made by Sen. John McCain and Gov. Sarah Palin in this Oct. 28, 2008, Associated Press story be added to the list below by this time next week?

Republican John McCain and running mate Sarah Palin told a Pennsylvania audience Tuesday that "it's wonderful to fool the pundits" and vowed to pull out an upset win over Democratic rival Barack Obama. "I'm not afraid of the fight, I'm ready for it," said McCain, continuing his sharp assault on Obama at a noisy rally opening his campaign day. Palin defended the campaign's harsh attacks on Obama.

Source: Associated Press, Oct. 28, 2008

1984

Mondale: I can still win despite polls

Arguing that the national polls are "dead wrong" in their bad news about his campaign, Walter Mondale assailed Ronald Reagan as a "happy-talk president" Friday and flatly denied that his own campaign chief had told him Reagan's lead in the presidential race was insurmountable. The Democratic nominee also asserted that he was not pursuing a lose-with-honor strategy designed to prevent a Reagan landslide …

Source: Miami Herald, Oct. 27, 1984

Election Day Results, Nov. 6, 1984

Reagan: 525 Electoral Votes

Mondale: 13 Electoral Votes

Popular Vote: Reagan 58.8 percent, Mondale 40.6 percent

1988

Dukakis says he’s ‘rocking, rolling’ to win

Michael S. Dukakis raced from state to state on the eve of the presidential voting, declaring the race was getting tighter and promising a comeback victory in "a November surprise." Mr. Dukakis, the Democratic nominee, was pinning his hopes of overtaking George (H.W.) Bush on more than two days of non-stop stumping…

Source: Nov. 7, 1988 Atlanta Journal and Constitution

Election Day results, Nov. 8,1988

Bush: 426 Electoral Votes

Dukakis: 111 Electoral Votes

(Texas Sen. Lloyd Bentsen received one EV)

Popular Vote: Bush 53.4 percent, Dukakis 45.6 percent

1992

Bush: An exuberant president insists he’ll win a historic upset

On the last day of his last campaign, President (George H.W.) Bush on Monday was exuberant, angry, soaking wet, confident, imploring and nostalgic -- and he was promising to pull off "the biggest comeback in American political history." Coming home to a tumultuous frenzy of support in the city where he began his political career nearly three decades ago, Bush shouted his prediction: "We're on the verge of something very, very big, something historic..."

Source: San Jose Mercury News, Nov. 3, 1992

Election Day results, Nov. 3, 1992

Clinton: 370 Electoral Votes

Bush: 168 Electoral Votes

Popular Vote: Clinton 43 percent, Bush 37.7 percent, Perot 18.9 percent

1996

Dole scoffs at polls, seeks to conjure the Truman magic

Vowing to defy the polls and silence the pundits, Republican presidential challenger Bob Dole predicted Tuesday that he would repeat the upset performance of another underdog -- President Harry S. Truman.

"I never did meet President Dewey, did you?" Dole asked the crowd, chuckling at his reference to the Republican governor of New York who was widely expected to win the 1948 presidential race.

"I'm like Harry Truman," Dole said. "I'm from the Midwest. I'm plain-spoken. I'm going to win--whether you like it or not."

Source: Los Angeles Times, Oct. 23, 1996

Election Day results, Nov. 5, 1996

Clinton: 379 Electoral Votes

Dole: 159 Electoral Votes

Popular Vote: Clinton 49.24 percent, Dole 40.71 percent, Perot 8.4 percent

2000

Gore ignores Bush’s DUI arrest, goes after his Social Security stance

“This is not a poll," Gore said. "This is not some pundit's prognostication. And you can write this down and book it. We're going to win the White House…”

Source: Chicago Tribune, Nov. 3, 2000

Final Results, some 36 days after Election Day, Nov. 7, 2000

Bush: 271 Electoral Votes

Gore: 266 Electoral Votes

(one voter abstained)

Popular Vote: Gore 48.4 percent, Bush 47.9 percent, Nader 2.7 percent

* Since Gore did win the popular vote and probably would have won Florida without the butterfly ballots and all the shenanigans, we’ll cut him some slack.

2004

Kerry stays on message

"I feel good because I think we're going to win," Kerry adviser Bob Shrum said in a rare interaction with the media.

Source: Washington Post, Nov. 2, 2004

Election Day results, Nov. 2, 2004

Bush: 282 Electoral Votes

Kerry: 252 Electoral Votes

(1 Elector cast EV for John Edwards)

Popular Vote: Bush 50.7 percent, Kerry 48.3 percent