Historian Allan Lichtman has revealed why he believes there is “more election anxiety this year” than ever before.
The American political historian is known as the “Nostradamus” of elections because he has successfully predicted the last nine out of 10 presidential races since 1984.
In a new episode on his YouTube channel, marking one week to go until voters elect either Kamala Harris or Donald Trump as the next president, Lichtman spoke of the “election anxiety” this time around.
“There was more election anxiety this year than I’ve ever seen, and I go back to Kennedy – Nixon in 1960,” Lichtman said.
“I’ve never seen this kind of election anxiety,” he added.
“A lot of people believe the future of the country is on the line here, and the democracy of America could be a thing of the past. I don’t think that’s an illegitimate fear.
“I’m so worried about the future of our election, you know, I think I’ve said this before – democracy is precious but like all precious things, it can be destroyed.”
Last week, the historian revealed that he has never experienced so much “hate” during an election campaign.
“I have never experienced anything close to the hate that has been reaped upon me this time,” he told NewsNation’s Chris Cuomo.
“I’ve been getting feedback that is vulgar, violent, threatening, and even beyond that, the safety and security of my family has been compromised.”
His method for forecasting the race so accurately is known as “The Keys to the White House,” a system he devised with the Russian academic Vladimir Keilis-Borok in 1981.
In his latest broadcast, Lichtman reassured viewers to “ignore the polls” and keep the faith in his method.
“The Keys to the White House do not change,” he said.
“They are not based on polls, punditry, or campaign events. They are based on the fundamental forces that drive elections and that is votes up or down on the strength and performance of the party holding the White House.”
The academic has defended his method, which looks at 13 factors from the president’s party’s standing in the House of Representatives to the health of the domestic economy, any record of scandal, social unrest, or foreign policy disasters during their tenure, and the comparative charisma of the two candidates to decide the victor, applying “true” or “false” designations to each category.
Lichtman continues to stand by his previous prediction that eight of the 13 keys currently yield “true” answers, pointing to a Harris triumph and another four years in power for the Democrats.
“Keep in mind for all of you out there – the keys have not changed,” he said. “I just want to stress the prediction remains unchanged for Harris.”
