The Republican landslide predicted by many pollsters materialized on Tuesday, as the GOP took control of the House of Representatives, narrowed the Democrats’ advantage in the Senate, and took over several governorships. Indeed, the Weekly Standard and the Christian Science Monitor, both used the L-word in their headlines. When did people start referring to a lopsided election as a landslide?
In the mid-19th century. While plenty of American politicians suffered crushing defeats before then, no one appears to have compared their fates to being buried in an avalanche until The New York Post enthused over the prospects of John Fremont’s campaign for president in 1856. Fremont would ultimately lose to James Buchanan, starting an early theme for would-be landsliders.