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GOP’s Worst Nightmare: Electoral Stalemate, Constitutional crisis
Townhall ^ | May 23, 2012 | Michael Medved

Posted on 05/23/2012 7:04:42 AM PDT by LucianOfSamasota

This column originally appeared in THE DAILY BEAST.

In looking ahead toward the November election, Republican strategists should take proactive steps to avoid a damaging, dangerous conclusion to the presidential race and to prevent the very real chance that Mitt Romney will win the Electoral College even while losing the popular vote badly to Barack Obama.

The problem stems from the lopsided margins President Obama will surely pile up in a few uncontested states with big populations, including California, New York, Illinois and Massachusetts. Mr. Romney, meanwhile, will prevail by comparable margins in only relatively small states: Utah, Idaho, the Dakotas, Alabama and Alaska. The big states that offer Romney his most plausible path to Electoral College victory will be won by much smaller margins, leaving Obama with a clear popular vote advantage.

(Excerpt) Read more at townhall.com ...


TOPICS: Constitution/Conservatism; Government; News/Current Events; Politics/Elections; US: Alabama; US: Alaska; US: California; US: Hawaii; US: Idaho; US: Illinois; US: Massachusetts; US: New York; US: North Dakota; US: South Dakota; US: Utah
KEYWORDS: 2012election; 57states; abortion; alabama; alaska; birthers; california; dailybeast; deathpanels; election2012; gaymarriage; hawaii; homosexualagenda; idaho; illinois; indonesia; kenya; kenyanbornmuzzie; massachusetts; mediawingofthednc; michaelmedved; mittromney; mymuslimfaith; newyork; northdakota; obamacare; partisanmediashills; puke; southdakota; swrdswllwngsdshw; thedailybeast; utah; zerocare
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To: LucianOfSamasota
this guy's way off base...first of all the Constitution does not "...unequivocally declares that the candidate with the most electoral votes becomes the next president". It says the candidate that receives a majority of the EVs becomes the next President. If no candidate gets a majority, the incoming House elects a winner from the top 5. I think it's 1 vote per state, but I'm not sure.

Obama and the demholes along with their mediawhores could piss and moan all they want about the supposed unfairness of it all. We heard all that nonsense in 2000, what could be different besides the race card? So Obie refuses to leave. Romney gets sworn in by Roberts at noon on 1/20/2013 and then orders the Capitol police to remove the POS and his freeloading wife from the WH.

21 posted on 05/23/2012 7:45:34 AM PDT by wny
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To: jakerobins

That’s what I think. Every time they disagree with a policy they can point out the ‘illegitimacy’ of the Romney Presidency. Just like the Iraq war (where Bush obtained Congressional approval according to Article 1 Section 8 & War Powers Act) war ‘illegal’ but the Libyan conflict (where BHO thumbed his nose at the Constitution) was obeying a higher cause.

I got pretty tired of lib’s talking about how Gore had been robbed at the time.

Just another excuse to undermine the rule of law and pave the way for their revolution.


22 posted on 05/23/2012 7:47:27 AM PDT by LucianOfSamasota (Tanstaafl - its not just for breakfast anymore...)
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To: LucianOfSamasota
In the event of an Electoral vote tie doesn't the House somehow settle the matter? If,by chance,I'm correct then you can be sure that the Rats would demand 27 recounts,supervised by *them*,in every state where Osama came with a million votes of carrying.
23 posted on 05/23/2012 7:47:35 AM PDT by Gay State Conservative (Julia: another casualty of the "War on Poverty")
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To: GOPJ
Obama’s not going to win.

Osama Obama has brought this country to it's knees.

DON'T LET COMPLACENCY GIVE HIM THE CHANCE TO FINISH THE JOB!

This is gonna be a close one in the Electoral College.

24 posted on 05/23/2012 7:52:58 AM PDT by Gay State Conservative (Julia: another casualty of the "War on Poverty")
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To: DuncanWaring

I have no idea why any genuine grassroots conservative would like Medved.

He has always struck me as an elitist, self-seeking, establishment-oriented huckster.

He is the sort of person that has caused and enabled the RINO cancer to grow and entrench itself, thus making the tea party movement necessary.


25 posted on 05/23/2012 8:16:24 AM PDT by rogue yam
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To: GQuagmire

“I’m more concerned for an electoral tie.......
http://usgovinfo.about.com/od/thepoliticalsystem/a/electiontie.htm
Depending on the HOR makeup, it could drag into March or beyond.....”

My thoughts about that, posted a little while back:
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/2872829/posts?page=50#50


26 posted on 05/23/2012 8:19:06 AM PDT by Road Glide
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To: GQuagmire
When the 12th amendment was adopted, Presidential terms began on March 4, so that's why the date of March 4 appears in the amendment. That was rendered inoperative by the 20th amendment, adopted in 1933, which speaks of "the time fixed for the beginning of the term of the President." So as of Jan. 20, 2013, if the House had not selected a President, the Vice President chosen by the Senate would act as President.

I figure that if there was a 269-269 tie, the Democrats would blackmail or bribe one elector into changing his vote.

27 posted on 05/23/2012 8:32:37 AM PDT by Verginius Rufus
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To: LucianOfSamasota

It’s a thought-provoking article that points out a real risk: that Obama might try to override an electoral college loss if he wins the popular vote by a sufficient margin.

Does anyone here doubt that he would try, given those circumstances, especially when it would play into his “race war” mentality?

Medved’s answer is to spend more time than usual campaigning for votes in the Blue States, particularly the big ones, and maybe that’s not such a bad idea for the long-term health of the GOP anyway.


28 posted on 05/23/2012 8:33:49 AM PDT by Norseman (Defund the Left-Completely!)
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To: Norseman

I think Obama will cheat to stay in office, and he will raise as big a stink as possible if forced to leave. Any excuse will do. Secular ethics do not bind the one who judges, only those being judged.

If we get into a hanging chad controversy or a minority popular vote Presidency it will hang about the elected’s neck like the proverbial albatross.


29 posted on 05/23/2012 8:41:30 AM PDT by LucianOfSamasota (Tanstaafl - its not just for breakfast anymore...)
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To: Norseman

Remember: Gore tried to override his electoral college loss because he had more popular votes.

It ain’t a popular-vote system. For a reason.


30 posted on 05/23/2012 8:45:21 AM PDT by ctdonath2 (Cloud storage? Dropbox rocks! Sign up at http://db.tt/nQqWGd3 for 2GB free (and I get more too).)
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To: Norseman

I don’t. I think he would love to be able to say he “won” the election, but not have to be POTUS anymore.


31 posted on 05/23/2012 8:46:11 AM PDT by Darth Reardon (No offense to drunken sailors)
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To: LucianOfSamasota
>"Seems likely the 'legal professor' will stir up trouble"

Wait till he refuses to cede the office because Mitt isn't Article 2 NBC.

Just like Juan MC C wasn't either.

32 posted on 05/23/2012 8:51:11 AM PDT by rawcatslyentist ("Behold, I am against you, O arrogant one," Jeremiah 50:31)
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To: Gaffer
>"leech base will be too self-absorbed in their quest for largess they'll eschew voting for other endeavors,"

New tech or sneaker release?

The materialistic are so easily distracted by shiny things.

33 posted on 05/23/2012 8:56:29 AM PDT by rawcatslyentist ("Behold, I am against you, O arrogant one," Jeremiah 50:31)
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To: Verginius Rufus

If electoral college is tied after election day, it is going to be a nightmare. Lawsuits, recounts, etc. Think FLA 2000 in at least 5 or 6 other states.


34 posted on 05/23/2012 8:58:30 AM PDT by GQuagmire
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To: Dilbert San Diego

“Michael Medved is conservative.”

eh. Michael Medved is a republican. Different creature many times from a conservative.

i.e. Read: RINO


35 posted on 05/23/2012 9:09:36 AM PDT by battletank
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To: LucianOfSamasota
Don't worry about that Michael; Obama hasn't a prayer. What's His name will crush him; of course a name from the phone book would crush him, but it is what it is. Hell a guy in prison almost beat him!
36 posted on 05/23/2012 9:11:53 AM PDT by jmaroneps37 (Conservatism is truth. Liberalism is lies.)
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To: wny

I would pay A LOT to see the sorry skinny blue lipped big eared bastard physically removed from our White House.


37 posted on 05/23/2012 9:36:32 AM PDT by Sequoyah101
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To: LucianOfSamasota

This is a laughable article.

Obama will not win the POPULAR VOTE at all, let alone by a sizeable margin.

He’s going to be a 43-45% tops on election day.

3 states now have seen their democratic primary voters vote 40% or more for SOMEONE other than him. The idea he’s going to win the popular vote is laughable.

What is going to be interesting, is that in spite of likely losing hte popular vote by 10-18 points, the electoral college spread will not be so pronounced because of the population disturibution.


38 posted on 05/23/2012 9:39:28 AM PDT by HamiltonJay
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To: jmaroneps37

Democratic Primay Voters in 3 states now, have voted at over 40% for ANYONE BUT OBAMA... now granted those were states Obama never had a chance of winning, but it is very indicative to exactly what Obama has done to the democratic base.

The blue dog democrats, mostly portrayed as part of the south have no party left thanks to Obama. Now while they are more well known in the south, don’t kid yourself, they are a sizeable portion of the democratic party membership in many states, particularly the mid atlantic and midwest, and that view is also a very large part of swing voters across the nation.

Obama, Pelosi, and Reid, have taken the party so unabashedly to the column of communism, that they have no chance of winning the popular vote.

Look at the Bane attack strategy, this is pure and unbridled attack on capitalism, that’s what they are doing while they try to tap dance, they are attacking the very foundation of capitalism, and they are alienating more and more of the 80-90% of Americans who are not rabbid socialists/communists.

Obama has an absolute top figure of 43-45% of the popular vote. Best he can hope for is somehow trying to pull out a EC win, while losing the popular vote by 10% or more. Sadly, this isn’t completely impossible to do, but it is highly highly unlikely.


39 posted on 05/23/2012 9:45:54 AM PDT by HamiltonJay
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To: wny

The race card makes a huge difference, and arguments like this really amount to little more than “Romney should throw the election in order to spare the nation the inevitable riots should Obama lose”

It’s an abhorrent argument, of course; an anathama to the concept of “republic” and adherence to the Constitution. Additionally, I don’t think that riots staged by the dependent class because the driver of their gravy train lost would be a bad thing at this point. Might actually open the public’s eyes and help return this nation to some if it’s forgotten founding principles.


40 posted on 05/23/2012 9:49:23 AM PDT by tanknetter
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