The electoral college, the end of the beginning?

nomix

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In 1984, Reagan won 49 states and got 97 % of the representation in the Electoral college. He won 58.8 % of the votes.

There's a disconnect there. I'll do the maths about Obama when the numbers are solid tomorrow, but this may get some republicans onboard as well.

trumpy.jpg

This may not be the end of the electoral college. Nor the beginning of the end. But it may be the end of the beginning of the electoral college.
 
This may not be the end of the electoral college. Nor the beginning of the end. But it may be the end of the beginning of the electoral college.

That would require an amendment to the Constitution. The Repugnants don't have the state legislatures to do it. CNN just mentioned this little fact: there are only 30 Repugnant governors to sign a bill approving an amendment to the Constitution. There could be a movement to expand assigning Electoral College votes to congressional districts (the Maine/Nebraska system), but that might not work. We, the good guys, pushed for this after 2000, and it gained no traction then. Suck it up, Repugnants. By the way, that Donald Trump Twitter thread was posted in another thread en clair, so no need for a spoiler tag.
 
That's my point. Obama needs to push for a popular vote election in 2016. Tomorrow.
 
I thought presidents couldn't get re-reelected. So why would Obama push for any votes.
 
He can't, not since 1952. Last president who could've run for a third time was Truman, and he didn't want it. He should come out for it because it'll look good. He'll look bloody magnanomous wether he gets the popular vote or not. He can say it's a reform the nation needs, and that he thinks time has come for one person, one vote. Something like that. Will give him a great boost right out of the gate, and if it goes through, his legacy is safe.
 
I can imagine the Electoral College being done away with in our lifetimes, but this election won't be the cause. Like I've pointed out in the other thread, Obama will be winning the popular vote.

I don't know where the movement will come from, though. I am not aware of what the political class thinks of the electoral college. My guess is they like it because it allows national campaigns to be more focused. It would be very difficult to campaign if the election was based on popular vote. Not that it's a very good reason, but it sounds like reason enough.
 
If it couldn't get through in 1969/70, it's certainly not going to happen now without a sudden slew of faithless electors.
 
I think if there's anything even more weird than the electoral college is the two party system the US has, basically nobody else has a chance in hell of winning. But of course, which president would push to change that...
 
Er...Trump's post is wrong, anyways...Obama will likely win the popular vote as well.

If the 2000 election didn't change things, this one surely won't.
 
There are worse things about the US election system than the electoral college, first of all:

Why are there no standardized ballots in a Federal election? Every voter in every county should get exactly the same ballot, be it in digital or paper form.
 
Why are there no standardized ballots in a Federal election? Every voter in every county should get exactly the same ballot, be it in digital or paper form.

What a very German thought. It's because we combine our federal elections with state elections, county elections, and local elections. The same polling place might have multiple precincts with different things up for consideration (mine, for one). A standardized ballot is impossible.
 
What a very German thought. It's because we combine our federal elections with state elections, county elections, and local elections. The same polling place might have multiple precincts with different things up for consideration (mine, for one). A standardized ballot is impossible.
What we do here is having seperate ballots. That means that in worst case you'll get handed three ballots (paper-only voting here): One for the federal, one for the state and one for the local election.

Has the advantage of things like Florida's Republican-designed overlong ballot that takes 60+ minutes to fill out can't happen: If you just want to vote on the federal election, you fill out that one ballot and discard the other two.
 
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Is there anything stopping Barack running for the 2020 elections? Are there rules as such for that?
 
Is there anything stopping Barack running for the 2020 elections? Are there rules as such for that?

A President can only be elected to the office twice as layed out in the 22nd Amendment. Obama is done running for President forever.

Any other office, other than VP, he is free to run for.
 
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My mistake. You can run for non-consecutive terms, but only if you've only served once. Once you've been elected twice, you're out.

Interesting question:

Let's say he ended up as Secretery of State, or even speaker of the house. If the president and VP were taken out, he could still become president if he were next in line, right?
 
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I would suspect they would go next down the line.
 
My mistake. You can run for non-consecutive terms, but only if you've only served once. Once you've been elected twice, you're out.

Interesting question:

Let's say he ended up as Secretery of State, or even speaker of the house. If the president and VP were taken out, he could still become president if he were next in line, right?

That is not a question that has been settled. The 12th amendment says that no person ineligible for the Presidency would be eligible for the Vice Presidency. So on one hand, there is the argument that you couldn't be promoted into those positions, but on the other, it isn't specifically stated anywhere how the progression is affected.

This also raises the question of someone who isn't a natural born citizen being in the line of succession. Say Arnold Schwarzeneggar was voted Speaker of the House and the P and VP left office. Would he become President or would he be skipped?

I, like argatoga, suspect the person is skipped.

In the end, I don't think it would ever matter. Once you are President, there is really no reason to take a lower office. Former Presidents do enough on their own without needing to hold office.
 
Will they now hang Trump for treason?

In all seriousness, he should be arrested for those statements. Attempting to incite a riot and committing treason should not be tolerated even if you are an old blowhard who is rich from TV money and poor in his real estate holdings.
 
Unfortunately, no.
 
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