11-12-2016, 01:57 PM
(11-11-2016, 06:10 PM)xxlt Wrote: Sorry for the ambiguous title, but a movement with a goal of getting EC electors to install Hillary as president seems to be getting legs.
Reasons it could be a good thing:
You should have written "none" and ended your post there. Absolutely nothing good would come of this.
Quote:The presidency was already given to the wrong person once in very recent history (Bush president, Gore won election.) This would avoid that happening a second time.
Incorrect. Florida vote shenanigans aside the correct person won the presidency under the rules that have existed since our constitution was written. You don't get to cry foul over these rules when you don't like the result.
Quote:The winner of the popular vote would be president.
The president would not be a naive lunatic.
No, they'd be a wholly different kind of bad.
Quote:Reasons it could be a bad thing:
Feeds into the "the system is rigged" narrative, even though the winner of the popular vote not being president feels sort of rigged too.
Except it's not rigged because it's been this way since the beginning. If Hillary won the EC and lost the popular this exact same argument would be made by a right leaning person and you would, rightfully, sneer at them.
Quote:Second amendment rights enthusiasts who supported Trump are given an excuse to "fight for their rights."
Or anyone who swore to protect and defend the constitution of the United States from all enemies, foreign and domestic.
Quote:Final thought (is Springer still on tv and does he still do this, lol?):
I've always hated the EC, even though usually the popular vote winner is elected president. Part of the reason is I think it distorts the will of the people when the electoral college numbers are the focus and not the p.v. The last president who could really claim a "mandate" was probably Nixon in 1972. Usually the popular vote is very close, which indicates there should be more compromise and less partisanship in DC.
Do you feel a case can be made for electors in any state to vote for the winner of the national popular vote, or alternately to vote their conscience if their state was very close and not an overwhelming win?
No, not at all. If you don't like the EC there is a mechanism for changing it, it's called an amendment. The framers designed our government the way they did for a reason. People need to stop trying to circumvent or ignore that system when they don't get the results they want.
