Here's a Twitter exchange from last night between Nate Silver and David Wasserman:
And the response:
When those New York votes are added President Obama will have reached or exceeded 51.0 percent of all votes cast in two Presidential elections. He will join a club currently occupied by only 8 other Presidents.
Details below.
Here's a list of the 8 Presidents to accomplish 51+ twice (or more):
George Washington
Washington ran unopposed in both his races. Officially he won 100 percent of the vote each time but most states' voters did not directly vote for presidential electors at this time.
Thomas Jefferson
Jefferson won with 61% in 1800 and 73% in 1804.
James Monroe
Monroe won both contests (1816 and 1820) easily with percentages of 68 and 81 respectively.
Andrew Jackson
Jackson, on his second bid for President, won in 1828 with 56%. He was reelected in 1832 with 54%.
Ulysses S. Grant
Grant won the first term (1868) with 53% and the second term (1872) with 56%.
William McKinley
William McKinley won his first term with exactly 51.0% in 1896. He was reelected with 51.6%.
Franklin D. Roosevelt
The Muhammad Ali of Presidents won the title four times beginning in 1932 with margins of 57%, 61%, 55% and 53%. In a post-living race, Zombie FDR would kick Zombie Reagan's butt.
Dwight Eisenhower
Eisenhower won in 1952 with 55% and was reelected with 57%.
Barack Obama
President Obama joins this list with 53% in 2008 and (soon) 51% in 2012.
Now, what else do the first 8 Presidents on this list have in common. I'll list them again and see if you can figure it out: