Why have recent US presidential elections been so close?

All the answers so far are good, but I'm going to take a different tact and point out that the recent ones haven't been all that closer than some historical ones. read more

We essentially have two elections: one to pick the candidates and then another election to pick the president. So first a candidate must target the median voter in their party, then the median voter in the general election. read more

But there is one election that is so consistently close, and so important, that it deserves special consideration—the United States presidential election. I plotted the top two popular vote-getters in every U.S. presidential election since 1824, using data from The American Presidency Project. read more

In our recent history there have been some very close presidential elections, but elections decided by a small margin are certainly not something new. In our recent history there have been some very close presidential elections, but elections decided by a small margin are certainly not something new. read more