What is the definition of a "blowout?"

Last night, I heard a comment by some talking head on MSNBC to the effect that while Clinton would probably win Pennsylvania, it might not be a "blowout" like Ohio.  This must mean that Clinton's margin of victory in Ohio constituted a "blow-out."  That margin was 10%.  But if a 10% margin of victory is a "blow-out," then what do you call the following margins of victory enjoyed by Obama in other states:

+Idaho 62%
+Hawaii 52%
District of Columbia 51%
+Alaska 50%
+Kansas 48%
+Washington 37%
Georgia 36%
+Nebraska 36%
+Minnesota 34%
Illinois 32%
Virginia 29%
South Carolina 28%
Mississippi 24%
+North Dakota 24%
Maryland 23%
+Wyoming 23%
Louisiana 21%
Vermont 20%
+Maine 19%
Utah 18%
Wisconsin 17%
Alabama 14%
Delaware 10%
+Iowa 9% (over Clinton, who was third)

(NOTE: All figures are from cnn.com and "+" indicates a caucus state.)

The reason Obama has an essentially insurmountable lead in elected delegates at this point is, quite simply, that where he's won he's tended to win BIG, and where he's lost, he's tended to lose by much narrower margins than those by which he's won in other states.

The day after the Iowa caucuses, as I was driving back to Maryland and listening to the radio news, I kept hearing Obama's victory in Iowa being described as a "narrow" one.  But if a 9% margin is a "narrow victory" and a 10% margin is a "blow-out," there seems to be very little room for something being only an ordinary victory.  Or is a "blow-out" only a blow-out, by definition, if Hillary Clinton comes out ahead?

•  Tip jar (n/t)

  by leevank on Tue Apr 22, 2008 at 08:09:28 PM PDT

  •  Your last poll choice was too funny

    not to pick.

    by kate mckinnon on Tue Apr 22, 2008 at 08:11:00 PM PDT

•  20% or more

  by SensibleDemocrat on Tue Apr 22, 2008 at 08:13:13 PM PDT

•  It's only a blowout if the state matters.....

  You can't have a "blowout" in a state that doesn't matter. Haven't you learned that yet? If your state is too white, or too black, or too Northwest, or too Midwest, or too Southern- it doesn't friggin matter.

  by Stumptown Dave on Tue Apr 22, 2008 at 08:14:00 PM PDT

  •  Good list... and one more:

    You can't have a "blowout" in a state Obama won. :)

    by srkp23 on Tue Apr 22, 2008 at 08:15:59 PM PDT

  •  And only the Clinton camp gets to decide...

    ... which states matter.  Right?

    by Land of Enchantment on Tue Apr 22, 2008 at 09:56:10 PM PDT

•  Any win for Clinton is

  a blowout, just like every state she wins is significant. I thought that would be  evident to everyone by now.

  by elmo on Tue Apr 22, 2008 at 08:14:17 PM PDT

•  Hell

  even if you take away the caucus states, he has a lot more blowouts than Clinton.  

  by socratic on Tue Apr 22, 2008 at 08:14:35 PM PDT

•  A blowout is 1% if you are Bush, it's a mandate

  The politics of division assumes that any win is both a landslide and a mandate.  Or a blowout.

  by Ohiodem1 on Tue Apr 22, 2008 at 08:15:10 PM PDT

•  I was sure it would only be 2-3 lead

  Nuts we have more of her crap...it is written that we get what we deserve! For christ sake what did I do to deserve her crap!

  by peacefully on Tue Apr 22, 2008 at 08:16:17 PM PDT

•  IMO,

  25 percent is a blowout, but that's completely arbitrary. It's just that when I see someone get beat 75-25, I say, "Damn, that's a blowout."

  by droogie6655321 on Tue Apr 22, 2008 at 08:18:50 PM PDT

  •  A professor of mine at Georgetown

    once defined a blowout in a presidential election (GE) as 4%.  

    by socratic on Tue Apr 22, 2008 at 08:19:44 PM PDT

    •  Poli sci profs...

      ... are a weird bunch.

      by droogie6655321 on Tue Apr 22, 2008 at 08:26:34 PM PDT

  •  75-25 is 50 margin

    25 margin is 62.5 to 37.5

    Jest sayin'

    by Land of Enchantment on Tue Apr 22, 2008 at 09:59:30 PM PDT

•  According to the Clinton Campaign,

  there are precisely NO blowouts on your list.  Twenty-two of the states, plus D.C., don't matter because no one lives there.  The other, Illinois, doesn't count because it's Obama's home state.

  Clinton stats are simple stats.

  by Man in the Middle on Tue Apr 22, 2008 at 08:19:16 PM PDT

•  David Gregory just called Hillary's victory ...

  in Pennsylvania a "decisive victory."  

  Here is the first dictionary.com definition of "decisive," and the only one that arguably applies:

  1. having the power or quality of deciding; putting an end to controversy; crucial or most important: Your argument was the decisive one.  

  What did tonight "decide?"  What controversy did it put an end to?

  by leevank on Tue Apr 22, 2008 at 08:41:56 PM PDT

  •  David Gregory is a moron

    Next . . .

    by Bill White on Tue Apr 22, 2008 at 09:00:54 PM PDT

  •  Who would get the most popular vote...

    ... in Pennsylvania.  That's been decided.  Decisively.  He, along with a lot MSNBC news readers show little sign of knowing there are actually delegates involved in the selection process.

    by Land of Enchantment on Tue Apr 22, 2008 at 09:58:05 PM PDT

•  Thanks for this.

  I was wondering about exactly this.  Glad you posted it.

  by Land of Enchantment on Tue Apr 22, 2008 at 09:55:35 PM PDT