Electoral College voting day
Usually when the Electoral College votes for president, it’s a non-event.
Today it’s a much bigger deal. Not in terms of the vote itself, the result of which is a foregone conclusion, but in terms of the ongoing propaganda war designed to invalidate the Trump presidency:
Presuming that mission is unsuccessful, prepare for the next phase: Jan. 6, when Congress formally tallies the results of those votes.
At that time, as few as two members of Congress ”” one in the House and one in the Senate ”” could lodge an objection to the results of the vote in a particular state or overall. While similarly unlikely to change the outcome, given current circumstances, it would be another wrench thrown into the transition of power ”” and another effort to make the case of opposition to the coming Trump presidency.
But even then, don’t expect it to end. Efforts to undermine Trump’s presidency by Democrats and those Republicans who believe Trump is unfit for office ”” or violating his oath of office ”” almost certainly will continue, a cascading series of constant challenges.
We’ve already seen quite a few; will the seemingly interminable election of 2016 ever end? First it was Comey who stole the election for Trump. Then the recounts were demanded. And now we’re in the midst of accusations that it was actually Russia that stole the election for Trump, as well as today’s Electoral College brouhaha.
These skirmishes will continue, probably unabated, during the Trump presidency. This sort of campaign of invalidation really got going with the 2000 election, which truly was a tossup (decided by the courts) but which the left continued to label as stolen when Bush was the victor. But, as I’ve said many times, I think the public’s reaction to Trump will depend on what Trump actually does as president and what effect his actions have both domestically and internationally.
I had never given the Electoral college much thought until the current controversy.
To drive the point home, the relationship between the popular vote vs. the electoral college is strikingly illustrated if one does a search for “Clinton Archipelago.” As a recent Investors Business Daily article pointed out, the entire surplus for Clinton comes from California—would we really want to consign the presidency to the outsize voting bloc of any one particular state?
I am once again amazed at the prescience of the founding fathers.
There is a theory that liberals are distracting themselves from any significant soul-searching or mounting well-planned challenges to legislation and appointments with this inability to let it go. I don’t know that it’s true – I’m sure there are some realists already at work – but it is plausible, and would at least drain energy from the movement as a whole. So we should pretend to be outraged just enough to keep rewarding them. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pguMUFyJ3_U
Dems are rotten winners and lousy losers.
Trump has 265 EV as I type.
It’s not looking too good for Hillary.
For every action, there is an equal but opposite reaction. The greater the provocation, the more intense will be the consequence. As Orwell pointed out, they are playing with fire and don’t even know that fire is hot. They know not either their enemy, nor themselves and all that is keeping them from the full consequence of their actions is the decency of those they hold in contempt.
In Maine, one Democrat elector was going to vote for Sen. Bernie Sanders instead, just to send a message of support for him, but his vote was ruled out of order, so Mrs. Clinton got three electoral votes with a re-vote. And Mr. Trump ended up with one electoral vote from that state’s second Congressional district (ME and NE the only states to split theirs, and one reason Trump made so many trips to this small state).
In Washington state, however, of its twelve electoral votes, three ended up being cast for Colin Powell, and one for Faith Spotted Eagle (an Indian activist from South Dakota). So far, this is more embarrassing for Clinton than Trump.
Meanwhile in Texas, Mr. Trump only received 36 out of the 38 electoral votes, with one each going to Gov. John Kasich (OH), and the other to former Representative Ron Paul (TX).
Donald Trump Secures Electoral College Win, With Few Surprises.
Looks like Hillary got hurt more than Trump by the campaign to have Electors vote for whom they wanted.
Howler at NPR site: http://www.npr.org/2016/12/19/505860058/obama-warns-trump-against-relying-on-executive-power
Sounds like a case of do as I say, not as I do.
Neo: ” I think the public’s reaction to Trump will depend on what Trump actually does as president and what effect his actions have both domestically and internationally.”
If the public is comprised of the GOP and Trump Democrats, Trump’s good works will be recognized and praised. However, every good thing Trump accomplishes will be reviled by the progressives. Just as they reviled all the positive things Reagan accomplished. In the lead up to the 2008 election I watched many progressive economists on CNBC talk about how all Reagan’s economic policies (Yes, the policies that created a ten year economic boom.) had to be rolled back to create fairness. With Obama at the helm they managed to do most of it. And that is why things have gotten so bad that the Trump Democrats jumped ship and voted for Trump.
If Trump is successful, it could bring another economic boom and several years of Republic governance. Unfortunately, after ten years no one will remember the policies that led to that success. And another prog will get elected. And the process of economic stagnation will repeat. We learn nothing from history.
J.J.:
But progressives are still in the minority. So I think the majority of people will be able to deflect the propaganda if reality contradicts it. Part of the reason is that the propaganda is that Trump is so very very awful that it constitutes a very low bar for him to clear.
ABC did a piece about getting rid of the EC, first telling us that hillarys margin of win was greater that the populations of NH. Maine,vermont, combined!!! (for heaven’s sake). And His holiness Pope of climate change church AL Gore won the popular vote too. Never do they say it is meaningless as in very blue states Republican turnout is suppressed, or do they address that the campaign was run with the EC in mind, or the rigged voting machines in Detroit giving Hill 360 votes,in certain machines when opening them up showed only 50 ballots in the box. The one saving grace is they went through the Constitutional scenario necessary closing with ratification required by 2/3 of states and said, “it looks like the EC is the safest it has ever been” More tantalizingly closeness for the lefts agenda, they fell just a brushstroke short.