Has the US population declined in the last four years?

[BainsBane]

It appears that several million people less voted in 2012 than in 2008. We also know there are fewer people actively participating in the labor force--whether through work or seeking employment--than four years ago. I'm wondering if the country hasn't undergone a population decline. Our country depends on immigration for population growth. Net immigration from Mexico is down, and deportations are at record highs.
So I'm wondering if the population could actually be down since 2008. What do you think?

[kestrel91316]

1. Are you seriously looking to blame less undocumented immigration by and

more deportations of Mexican nationals for the lower voter turnout this year? SERIOUSLY???

Wow. Get a clue. You've been drinking teabagger Koolaid.

ETA: If fewer people have voted this time it would be BECAUSE REPUBLICANS HAVE WORKED OVERTIME TO DENY AMERICAN CITIZENS THE RIGHT TO VOTE.

[BainsBane]

2. I'm not looking to blame anything

I'm wondering. Immigration is down. We depend on immigration for population growth. Therefore it is possible that the population has declined.

[BainsBane]

5. I'm assuming legal immigration is down too

because of the economy. The wild conclusions are your and yours alone. I don't appreciate your being rude.

[former9thward]

3. No the population is not down.

Less people on both sides were interested in this election than in 2008.

[aaaaaa5a]

9. I think it ended up being a base election for

Both sides. And it shocked the world that our side was bigger and had more energy.

Moderates and casual voters stayed away. This led to a lower overall turnout.

[customerserviceguy]

10. Yep

The Repukes did a worse job of motivating their base than they did four years ago, that more than made up for any feeling of being dispirited that our side had.

[LeftinOH]

4. I'm pretty sure the US population has never declined- not in war nor

economic depression. Never.

[cthulu2016]

6. Yup. (With one possible exception I can think of...)

The Union population even grew considerably during the Civil War (The Confederacy did not)

I would not be surprised if the US population declined in 1918, since the 1918 influenza pandemic killed 20 million people worldwide, in the middle of World War I, another mass casualty event.

But that's the only year that jumps to mind as a plausible US population-decline.

[aaaaaa5a]

7. The population is growing albeit modestly.

What I find interesting is that the total vote total is down. But the new Democratic base was up. Young voters, Hispanics, single women, African Americans, Asians, etc. increased their voter turnout from 4 years ago.

For instance Hispanics were 8 percent of the National electorate in 2008. Last week they were 10 percent. The black vote in Ohio was 33% larger in 2012 than it was in 2008. Those numbers are not because of a growing population alone, but because of increased enthusiasm.

I guess now that the numbers are in we see who was really enthusiastic and had energy and who did not.

Yet another MSM talking point shot down. In what was suppose to be a GOP year with an angry base, Romney scored more than a million votes less than John McCain. In Ohio he finished behind McCain's total vote count too.

[BainsBane]

8. decreased labor participation

could be because of an aging population and more retirements. I believe Krugman wrote about that.

[FSogol]

11. Maybe all the McCain voters self-deported?

[jeff47]

12. Keep in mind we're still not done with the 2012 vote totals

While the outstanding vote isn't going to change the result, there's still a lot of provisional ballots and such to be counted.

Also, keep in mind the baby boomers are starting to die off and Gen-X is smaller. So in the next few decades the population will skew younger than it has in the last few decades. Which means fewer voters.

[Arugula Latte]

13. Well, remember The Rapture? That explains a lot.