Alan Lichtman
Appearances
The Daily Show: Ears Edition
In the Field with Grace Kuhlenschmidt
Ah, here's the thing. The keys are based on history. And if people don't vote, you're going to break the pattern of history.
The Daily Show: Ears Edition
In the Field with Grace Kuhlenschmidt
You must vote. I don't care who you vote for, but you must vote.
The Daily Show: Ears Edition
In the Field with Grace Kuhlenschmidt
Kamala Harris will become the first woman president.
The Daily Show: Ears Edition
In the Field with Grace Kuhlenschmidt
You live in a total world of denial. You've got it wrong. You were preposterously and stupidly wrong.
The Daily Show: Ears Edition
In the Field with Grace Kuhlenschmidt
You weren't, Alan. It was a prediction, not a fact. And I told you, I'm a human being, right?
The Daily Show: Ears Edition
In the Field with Grace Kuhlenschmidt
I certainly didn't mean to hurt anyone. I'm not psychic. My predictions are based on history. And this year, which you know is the craziest year ever, the pattern of history was broken. That can happen.
The Daily Show: Ears Edition
In the Field with Grace Kuhlenschmidt
I actually did, and it looks great.
The Daily Show: Ears Edition
In the Field with Grace Kuhlenschmidt
I definitely think I was thrown off by pushing Biden out. We've never seen a sitting president, the elected nominee, forced out. So that leads me to perhaps reevaluate my call on the contest key.
The Daily Show: Ears Edition
In the Field with Grace Kuhlenschmidt
The broader point is, I do think Harris's race and gender played a role here. There are deep strains within this country of misogyny, racism, xenophobia.
The Daily Show: Ears Edition
In the Field with Grace Kuhlenschmidt
Charlie XCS. I don't know who that is.
The Daily Show: Ears Edition
In the Field with Grace Kuhlenschmidt
This is one prediction in over 40 years. I was listed as number 85 of the world's 100 leading geopolitical experts. But people think, oh, he made a wrong prediction. That invalidates him as a person. It's crazy.
The Daily Show: Ears Edition
In the Field with Grace Kuhlenschmidt
Yeah. We shouldn't just write off an error. We can learn a lot about our politics and our society from analyzing the mistake.
The Daily Show: Ears Edition
In the Field with Grace Kuhlenschmidt
If you can't learn from your mistakes, then you're in big trouble.
The Daily Show: Ears Edition
In the Field with Grace Kuhlenschmidt
The great Benjamin Disraeli, the former late prime minister of England once said, finality is not a word we use in politics.
The Daily Show: Ears Edition
In the Field with Grace Kuhlenschmidt
Every time you say that, I kind of go, what? It's not a name that rings any bells with me.
The Daily Show: Ears Edition
In the Field with Grace Kuhlenschmidt
I don't pay attention to the polls. They're snapshots, not predictors. My system, the 13 keys to the White House, examines the fundamental forces that drive presidential elections.
The Daily Show: Ears Edition
In the Field with Grace Kuhlenschmidt
Using pattern recognition, every election from 1860 to 1980. Why not 14? Could have been any number.
The Daily Show: Ears Edition
In the Field with Grace Kuhlenschmidt
I love all those numbers, but the big message is it's governing, not campaigning that counts, that the electorate as a whole ask whether the administration has done a good enough job for four more years or they want to make a change.
The Daily Show: Ears Edition
In the Field with Grace Kuhlenschmidt
The keys indicate that Kamala Harris will become the first woman president of the U.S.
The Daily Show: Ears Edition
In the Field with Grace Kuhlenschmidt
People say I got Florida wrong because I was calling Gore, and in fact, Bush ultimately won. I say I was correct because Florida way disproportionately rejected ballots cast by African Americans.