Posted on 07/11/2011 11:40:58 AM PDT by Baladas
Fred Thompson, the former U.S. senator, Republican presidential candidate and actor (Law and Order, etc.), will be in Richmond next week to support an effort to ensure the presidency goes to the winner of the most overall popular votes in all 50 states.
Thompson, along with former Illinois governor Jim Edgar (R) and former Iowa governor Chet Culver (D) are part of a bipartisan coalition that has endorsed the National Popular Vote that would go into effect if states representing 270 electoral votes pass legislation.
The National Popular Vote bill has been signed into law in seven states — Maryland, Hawaii, Washington, Illinois, New Jersey, Massachusetts, Vermont and the District of Columbia -- representing 29 percent of the necessary votes for the compact to go into effect.
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...
>>Just forget the electoral college then and campaign in all the top ten major metropolitan areas only - surprised even Fred Thompson would endorse an idea as stupid as this one.<<
This is very disappointing. You are 100% correct. As much as it would be great to shove a thumb into the eyes of NH and Iowa, elimination of the EC would be a national disaster and the beginning of our road to Argentina and Cuba.
I thought the same. Fred has clearly shown himself to be on the side of the Statists. Fred is an ENEMY of Liberty.
Thomspon was McCain’s stalking horse in 2008.
Ditto. I very much wanted Thompson to be President, and even with this bone-headed position he'd be one of the best ever, but THIS is a big mistake. It effectively disenfranchises small, sparsely-populated states (and, full disclosure, I'm from Texas, so this doesn't apply directly to me).
EVERY time we mess with the basic structure of the Constitution, we screw things up even worse. The last HUGE mistake was direct election of the Senate, disenfranchising the states themselves. We can thank this move for unfunded mandates, at the very least, something that has and will continue to terribly burden the states.
Fred, back off of this. Everyone likes a politician humble enough to admit a mistake, or that they got snookered by some fast-talking advocate of a particular issue. NOW is the time to do so, before any permanent damage is done.
This is stupid. I can’t believe Thompson has bought into this. Even though conservative states are gaining population I don’t see the risk of seeing vote totals being driven up in liberal strongholds which could flip the election even though a candidate could lose soundly on the electoral map being a good trade off. We might as well get rid of states where voting is concerned if this is the way to go. This would most certainly have the result of pushing our Presidential politics leftward which is the last thing we need.
I take it you've seen his commercials for reverse mortgages on Fox News.
In ‘Rat’ stronghold States, the electoral votes are going to the Rat - so there is no reason for an unethical elections board to “stuff the ballot box” with Rat votes.
A thousand extra fake votes do not actually do anything if those electoral votes are already going to the Rat. But if it is “popular vote” then those thousand fake votes actually count against a thousand legitimate votes.
Fred Thompson - he played a good President on TV - he looks the part - and when someone else writes his lines he can sound clever. That and a hot wife are about all he has going for him.
I used to respect this man..
Thomspon was McCain’s stalking horse in 2008.
///
agreed. even if not intentional.
his half-hearted effort, simply divided conservative voters,
who might have united behind Hunter or someone,
and stopped McCain.
...and this isn’t rocket science. you don’t even need to understand this issue. simply remember, that the Founding Father’s are on one side, and the Democrats are leading the charge to change it.
...have liberals EVER changed things for the better?
Fred is an IDIOT at best.
Worse idea ever
Are there no sane Republicans left?
They would be better off doing this by county. This way, Kings County in NYC has just as much representation as does some little county in Podunk.
Win the county, get a point. Most points win.
As an alternative idea, why not return to the balance of power the founding fathers envisioned:
House of Representatives democratically elected by the people.
Senate *appointed* by the State legislatures. Repeal the 17th Amendment to get rid of the faux democracy, and restore the ability of the States to protect the people from an out of control federal government.
President *elected* by the Electoral College. The presidency should not be a popularity contest. Only by tradition is the first ballot for president supposed to be who the elector is chosen to represent. If no president can be chosen in the first ballot, electors become free agents.
Finally, the president nominates Supreme Court justices, who must be approved by the senate, which *used* to mean, by the States.
America was thrown terribly out of balance the last time, and we have suffered for it since. Let’s not make things even worse.
“Has Thompson gone senile on us? “
Something like that, but not exactly. He’s lost it like old Newt “Callista and I” Gingrich lost it.
Ha, ha, yes, Fred will make a buck any way he can. He was probably laughing at the people who fervently supported his campaign.
Politicians cannot be trusted.
LLS
Good proposals there, but the idea of the state governments existing as anything other than as an administrative arm of the Federal Government, has been under assault since the ratification of the Articles of Confederation. As the immortal Christopher Lambert always said, “There Can Be Only One”.
Fred can put this and his Reverse Mortgage ads where the sun never shines. What a disappointment!
BAD idea Fred.
Definitely don’t want the, ahem, urban areas deciding who our President will be every four years.
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