Posted on 12/14/2004 9:02:14 PM PST by CyberAnt
The members of the electoral college met Monday for the first time in four years and they (or their successors) will not meet again for another four years.
Each state gets the number of electors which totals the number of members of the US House of Representatives plus two US Senators. As there are 435 Members of the House and 100 Members of the Senate you might think that the total number of electors is 535. But wait! It's 538.
That's because the 23rd Amendment to the US Constitution grants the District of Columbia three electors (more precisely the number of electors it would be entitled to if it were a state "but in no event more than the least populous state"). By Tony Payton; edited by Ladonna Lee & Michael Payton
The Constitution also provides that the Congress shall determine the date that the electors must cast their ballots ("which day shall be the same throughout the United States").
The current date for this activity is the first Monday after the second Wednesday in December which happened to have been this past Monday, December 13.
Here's the shocker: George W. Bush and Dick Cheney were elected President and Vice President respectively. Except for one dope in Minnesota who reversed his votes - voting for John Edwards for President and giving his vote for Veep to John Kerry - everything apparently went as planned.
The electoral college members are chosen by the political parties. Each political party with a candidate who qualified for the ballot, sends a list of electors to the Secretary of State and (except in Maine and Nebraska) whichever candidate wins the most popular votes gets all of the electoral votes.
In Ohio (which Bush won by 119,000 votes) on Monday that model of good behavior, Jesse Jackson, and some lawyer from Massachusetts went to court trying to stop the people who had been selected to cast their votes for Bush/Cheney from doing so.
A Democratic Congressman from Michigan, John Conyers, held a "hearing" in Columbus to take testimony about vote fraud. (1) Republicans control the US House so Democrats don't get to hold hearings in Washington or anywhere else. (2) Assignment for an enterprising young reporter: Who paid for Conyers' foolishness? [I would guess the DNC]
There were also reports that representatives of the Libertarian and Green parties (whose candidates received about 27,000 votes combined out of about 5.6 million cast in Ohio) might physically attempt to prevent the Bush/Cheney electors from getting into the statehouse in Columbus.
As we like to say in big time politics, "Do you think we're new at this?"
All during the morning, Buckeyes walked into the statehouse to transact business. Twenty of those individuals, however, were in possession of paperwork which gave each of them the right to cast a vote for Bush and for Cheney in the event that the elector who was supposed to cast the votes didn't, for whatever reason, show up.
The Democratic Party is in disarray and going in the wrong direction. The Democrats can pretend they have nothing to do with the legal flailing about in Ohio, but by allowing its surrogates - Jesse Jackson and the Green Party - to engage in these tactics only drives the Party farther from the mainstream of American political thought.
Current Democratic members of the US House and Senate will never again be in the majority in their professional lifetimes. That realization will lead to a larger-than-normal Democratic retirements meaning just maintaining their current levels in the House and Senate may be impossible.
The 2004 election is now officially over. Only the formal opening of the ballots on January 6, 2005 remains prior to the inauguration of President Bush and Vice President Cheney on January 20.
It is time for the Democrats to quit wringing their hands and get to work to repair the damage they have done to themselves.
It is time to move on.
On the Secret Decoder Ring today: A primer on the Electoral College, a Mullfoto which demands legal action, an Iraq Flashback, "The Reporters and the Donkey"; and a Catchy Caption of the Day. [to get to the "secret decoder ring" page, just click on the source link.
This is grossly outrageous - Conyers doesn't have any authority to hold hearings anywhere .. this has got to be stomped on very quickly by the repubs.
I like the comments about today's Democrats will never see power again.
Mr. Conyers - are you listening??
"today's Democrats will never see power again"
Thankfully! And .. I hope they sanction Conyers and put him in his place. I'll never forgive him for calling our soldiers "baby killers".
bump
Love the part about the elector who voted for Edwards instead of Kerry! Well, they were both named John! What a maroon!
Anybody hear if the other side tried to sway any electors, like in 2000?
"Anyone can hold a meeting anywhere they want"
Rich has been around Washington a long time and I seriously doubt he would make such an accusation if it were untrue.
And .. if the meeting is part of the judiciary committee and was taken on the road, still only the Chairman can call the meeting - not Conyers - who (being a democrat) cannot possibly be the chairman.
Once again, the dems are playing this game of WE'RE STILL IN CHARGE - YOU PEOPLE JUST DON'T KNOW IT game. The jig is up and Conyers needs to be taken to the woodshed!
Pray for W and Merry Christmas to Our Troops
Somebody needs to send this over to DU who still refuses to accept reality. And if anybody tries to be a voice of reason and say "Hey, it's over. We lost. Let's move on.", they immediately get flamed and verbally hammered as a freeper troll.
Conyers is a communist dope. Ignore him.
The Demonrats are just sore that they couldn't steal the election.
That's two elections in a row they didn't steal. Let's keep the streak going.
Looks like they might steal the Washington State Govenor's election though.
You can't ignore him when HE BREAKS THE LAW!!
"Jesse Blackmail"
ROTFLOL! I love that!
Actually, I think it's just another attack on the black conservative Ohio Secretary of State.
Like George Will said last weekend, if the Democrats don't extract the cancer of Michael Moore and Moveon, it will be the death of the once-proud party.
I tend to agree with you.
He can hold all the mock hearing he wants, they don't mean anything.
They mean plenty .. HE'S BREAKING THE LAW!
And make him a martyr ? That's what he wants.
Conyers can hold all the hearings he wants. But it's a waste of time and his hearings carry no weight. Moreover, he has no subpoena power. So, he can't compel anybody to attend or to testify. All he can do is collect volunteer testimony. And, of course, posture for the media...
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