Biden may truly be unpopular but it’s a long time until we vote for President again & a lot can change. I’m not real optimistic, but I’m not ready to believe that Trump will be our next President.
I think that too many voters expected Biden to come into office & “fix” whatever their highest priority is within days. They don’t remember how obstructive Trump’s people were in not transitioning on a timely basis to Biden’s choices. And the Democrats do not truly have a majority since Manchin & Sinema are not in alignment with Biden’s agenda. People want COVID to go away, but Biden doesn’t have a magic wand, & until vaccines & masking are no longer political but are acceptable to the majority, it will be with us. There will be variants until the majority of the WORLD has been vaccinated.
Okay, I’ll get down off my soapbox, although I could go on for much longer.
We need better messaging so the voters elect candidates who care more about our country than how much power and money they can accrue for themselves.
Regarding popularity and the efficacy of poling at his stage (and perhaps even later), all one needs to recall is that Massachusetts Governor Michael Dukakis came out of the Democratic Convention in 1988 with a 17-point lead over Vice President George Bush. The worry is that the alleged intelligence of the US voting public fell for a photo, Dukakis in a tank and the racist 'Willie Horton' tale. We are irretrievably unthinking and reactive. How one repairs that in the next few years will tell the tale.
Florida definitely needs a change! Also Senator Marco Rubio is on the ballot this time & the well qualified Val Demings would be an excellent replacement for him.
I understand that this is an alternative to the outright abolishment of the Electoral College, but I am in doubt that it would pass, particularly in the present political climate. The Equal Rights Amendment is still hanging in limbo since 1971/1972.
Agreed. I don't know how to get it done, and I'm sure the debate would be fierce. But as it is, the presidential votes of people in small rural states count more than those of people in populous states.
Article II of the Constitution and Amendment 12 established the Electoral College. Abolishing the Electoral College outright would require a Constitutional Amendment.
Judd, thank you for your clear explanation of how 'fixing' the Electoral Count Act could actually enable a fraudulent election, and for your words of wisdom at the end fo the piece: "Ultimately, democracy will only survive if enough people in power are willing to set aside their short-term political interests for the greater good."
You may describe Biden as "unpopular", but I'm not prepared to say that means another Trump-Biden election would be any closer. Biden is "unpopular" looking at him as one would look at any president other than Trump. He is "unpopular" because he was handed a disaster by the prior administration and hasn't worked miracles. He is "unpopular" because the media -- particularly starting with the right-wing media -- criticize him constantly without any perspective on how we got to where we are. I have to have faith that, if Trump runs again, the majority of voters in the swing states will once again reject him, perhaps even more so given what has come out about his assaults upon democracy. And so we will be left to combat the efforts to steal the election fraudulently, but with yet another substantial majority of voters rejecting Trump.
Obviously, the way for the people to guarantee their right to vote is to actual vote. This can be thought of as harder for some though not not for others (which in fact true!) but with anything worthwhile having, like voting rights protections, which should include "ease of voting" processes, it most often takes doing the hard actions. I heard someone say, "Hope is not a strategy." So hoping someone does something to protect the rights of being a citizen of the United States of America for you is not the best one can nor should do. Be proactive, call someone you trust, ask for help, and pay it forward! Georgia defeated Trump by out voting him and his kind in 3 different elections. We can do this again and again until we create a real democracy for each and every citizen.
Judd, what poll are you citing to assert Biden’s unpopularity? Morning Consult published results of their own poll and while overall people think the country is headed in the wrong direction, the D’s feel that the country is headed the right way. It seems to me that few people/outlets with huge platforms tout Democrats for anything and instead try to normalize MAGA and/or talk about Biden’s failure to do X or Y. I’m exhausted with it, yet don’t have any idea how to stop a snowball that’s rolling fast. Why aren’t we seeing coverage of Hutchinson and Hogan for denouncing Trump? It’s true that Hogan has said similar things for a while, but Hutchinson is new. They should be splashed everywhere and yet …. We are watching the Trumpist movement before our eyes and it couldn’t make for better television.
The MEDIA is deciding WHO is popular & are SO dramatic in their quest to make Biden et.al.look as if nothing as been accomplished! They are NOT our friends, in fact many are part of the 1%! They are NOW deciding if we are going to war w/Russia—supporting the good old MIC 🎤 that Eisenhower warned us against decades ago! FOLLO THE $$
Why don't concerned members of Congress pass a fix to the Electoral Count Act which states that in the case of a lack of confidence or irregularities in the "Electors" from a state, that Electors will be "counted" for that state's votes in the Electoral College according to the winner of the popular vote in that state?
I know that directly undoing the Electoral College itself would require a constitutional amendment, and there IS that maybe-someday National Popular Vote Interstate Compact, which seems like a very clever fix to the system, BUT in the meantime, altering how the Congress "interprets" or "reads" the votes of Electors seems like a potential solution.
I'm no lawyer, but does this idea hold any water at all? Just thinking out loud here. This would allow Congress, without a constitutional amendment, and without the National Popular Vote Interstate Compact, to ensure that fraudulent local officials can't do what you've described here. The question I have is, would such an alteration of the "interpreting" of Electoral Votes -- effectively tethering them to the actual popular vote of a "questionable" state -- be viable under the constitution? I don't know the specifics to answer that essential question.
(Edited to add the "tethering" line, since that phrase was escaping me earlier.)
In other words, doing away with the Electoral College requires a Constitutional Amendment. Altering the way states "send" Electors to the Congress would require the National Popular Vote Compact. But is there a possibility for the other part, how Congress "receives" votes from Electors, to be accounted for in a (literally) fool-proof, coup-proof way??
What worries me about this idea is that unscrupulous Senators (not naming names) could invent or overlook irregularities to force the Electoral College votes in enough states to bring in the popular vote loser. This legislation would in other words be very difficult to draft and could lead to even more litigation over who is President.
It would need to be written to exclude tampering with the vote totals themselves but bypassing fake Electors and their fake Electoral College Votes, to "tether" the votes for each state to their popular vote totals, thereby ensuring that the minority candidate CAN'T win the Electoral College Vote since there are no discrepancies between the Electoral College and the actual on-the-ground popular vote totals, as reported by municipal election officials.
The law I'm dreaming of would not be used in cases of objections to the certification of Electors from certain states as such, but rather to ensure that each state's municipal-level popular vote total reflects clearly in the Electoral College vote corresponding to that state, to ensure that the majority of actual citizens country-wide can determine their own President. It would alter how the Congress "receives" the "Electoral College Votes" from the states, essentially bypassing the Certification process entirely, I guess, and replacing it with, ...I guess, trust in the municipal-level election officials, who have been standing strong and bearing the brunt of anger and such through all of this "rigged election" nonsense from the MAGA crowd.
I’m not sure whether it would be Constititional but don’t see any harm in approaching your elected rep(s) and see if they want (to take credit for) your idea! Good luck!
I really think it’s time to get rid of the electoral college! Most votes win. State voting will always smell like manure here in Wisconsin with the Gerrymandering.
It's extremely upsetting that one man's narcissistic quest for maximum power and exposure has taken a system that has largely operated on good faith and honesty and turned it into a game of competing checks and balances, a naked rush for power that no one will have full faith in. And that's without going into voter suppression and intimidation!
Right, DJT is nothing more than a schoolyard bully. (How he calls “racism” even to his adoring fans is also extremely hard to figure.) Honestly don’t see him winning a second election after the hash he made of the US economy and international standing his first time through. I’d be surprised if Putin even backed him a second time.
On the one hand, yes it’s truly frightening to see how easily pending “improvements” to election law are, imo persuasively, argued down. (Not to mention, how many of us are watching the ball as closely as Judd et al; vs simply demanding reform and imagining that lawmakers are smarter than everyone else so of COURSE they’ll figure this stuff out before writing new, worse laws?)
But the logic of breezily dismissing the third branch of government as “antiquated” seems unkind at best, and fatally flawed at worst. Actually, “the idea that the judiciary — and ultimately the Supreme Court — will insulate the process from political gamesmanship” is integral to our Constitution (which by providing life appointments for certain federal judges, does indeed insulate those judges from campaigning to keep their jobs, and therefore from the sort of pandering/gamesmanship we Americans otherwise seem to consider to be a semi sacred right of “true” democracy).
Obviously, Article I judges have biases and limitations, and on the whole are probably more conservative than the population at large. But to dismiss them as unlikely to rule fairly when a Governor attempts outright fraud against a state electorate seems unduly pessimistic to me.
Biden may truly be unpopular but it’s a long time until we vote for President again & a lot can change. I’m not real optimistic, but I’m not ready to believe that Trump will be our next President.
I think that too many voters expected Biden to come into office & “fix” whatever their highest priority is within days. They don’t remember how obstructive Trump’s people were in not transitioning on a timely basis to Biden’s choices. And the Democrats do not truly have a majority since Manchin & Sinema are not in alignment with Biden’s agenda. People want COVID to go away, but Biden doesn’t have a magic wand, & until vaccines & masking are no longer political but are acceptable to the majority, it will be with us. There will be variants until the majority of the WORLD has been vaccinated.
Okay, I’ll get down off my soapbox, although I could go on for much longer.
We need better messaging so the voters elect candidates who care more about our country than how much power and money they can accrue for themselves.
Regarding popularity and the efficacy of poling at his stage (and perhaps even later), all one needs to recall is that Massachusetts Governor Michael Dukakis came out of the Democratic Convention in 1988 with a 17-point lead over Vice President George Bush. The worry is that the alleged intelligence of the US voting public fell for a photo, Dukakis in a tank and the racist 'Willie Horton' tale. We are irretrievably unthinking and reactive. How one repairs that in the next few years will tell the tale.
We finally elect Stacy Abrams & other Democrats as governors!!
Florida definitely needs a change! Also Senator Marco Rubio is on the ballot this time & the well qualified Val Demings would be an excellent replacement for him.
Florida primary is August 23rd!
Seems like an argument for getting rid of the Electoral College. How about direct election of the president and vice president?
https://www.nationalpopularvote.com/written-explanation
I understand that this is an alternative to the outright abolishment of the Electoral College, but I am in doubt that it would pass, particularly in the present political climate. The Equal Rights Amendment is still hanging in limbo since 1971/1972.
Easier said than done.
Agreed. I don't know how to get it done, and I'm sure the debate would be fierce. But as it is, the presidential votes of people in small rural states count more than those of people in populous states.
Article II of the Constitution and Amendment 12 established the Electoral College. Abolishing the Electoral College outright would require a Constitutional Amendment.
Judd, thank you for your clear explanation of how 'fixing' the Electoral Count Act could actually enable a fraudulent election, and for your words of wisdom at the end fo the piece: "Ultimately, democracy will only survive if enough people in power are willing to set aside their short-term political interests for the greater good."
You may describe Biden as "unpopular", but I'm not prepared to say that means another Trump-Biden election would be any closer. Biden is "unpopular" looking at him as one would look at any president other than Trump. He is "unpopular" because he was handed a disaster by the prior administration and hasn't worked miracles. He is "unpopular" because the media -- particularly starting with the right-wing media -- criticize him constantly without any perspective on how we got to where we are. I have to have faith that, if Trump runs again, the majority of voters in the swing states will once again reject him, perhaps even more so given what has come out about his assaults upon democracy. And so we will be left to combat the efforts to steal the election fraudulently, but with yet another substantial majority of voters rejecting Trump.
Obviously, the way for the people to guarantee their right to vote is to actual vote. This can be thought of as harder for some though not not for others (which in fact true!) but with anything worthwhile having, like voting rights protections, which should include "ease of voting" processes, it most often takes doing the hard actions. I heard someone say, "Hope is not a strategy." So hoping someone does something to protect the rights of being a citizen of the United States of America for you is not the best one can nor should do. Be proactive, call someone you trust, ask for help, and pay it forward! Georgia defeated Trump by out voting him and his kind in 3 different elections. We can do this again and again until we create a real democracy for each and every citizen.
Judd, what poll are you citing to assert Biden’s unpopularity? Morning Consult published results of their own poll and while overall people think the country is headed in the wrong direction, the D’s feel that the country is headed the right way. It seems to me that few people/outlets with huge platforms tout Democrats for anything and instead try to normalize MAGA and/or talk about Biden’s failure to do X or Y. I’m exhausted with it, yet don’t have any idea how to stop a snowball that’s rolling fast. Why aren’t we seeing coverage of Hutchinson and Hogan for denouncing Trump? It’s true that Hogan has said similar things for a while, but Hutchinson is new. They should be splashed everywhere and yet …. We are watching the Trumpist movement before our eyes and it couldn’t make for better television.
The MEDIA is deciding WHO is popular & are SO dramatic in their quest to make Biden et.al.look as if nothing as been accomplished! They are NOT our friends, in fact many are part of the 1%! They are NOW deciding if we are going to war w/Russia—supporting the good old MIC 🎤 that Eisenhower warned us against decades ago! FOLLO THE $$
Well, this is all thoroughly horrifying/terrifying because I can definitely see this type of situation playing out.
Why don't concerned members of Congress pass a fix to the Electoral Count Act which states that in the case of a lack of confidence or irregularities in the "Electors" from a state, that Electors will be "counted" for that state's votes in the Electoral College according to the winner of the popular vote in that state?
I know that directly undoing the Electoral College itself would require a constitutional amendment, and there IS that maybe-someday National Popular Vote Interstate Compact, which seems like a very clever fix to the system, BUT in the meantime, altering how the Congress "interprets" or "reads" the votes of Electors seems like a potential solution.
I'm no lawyer, but does this idea hold any water at all? Just thinking out loud here. This would allow Congress, without a constitutional amendment, and without the National Popular Vote Interstate Compact, to ensure that fraudulent local officials can't do what you've described here. The question I have is, would such an alteration of the "interpreting" of Electoral Votes -- effectively tethering them to the actual popular vote of a "questionable" state -- be viable under the constitution? I don't know the specifics to answer that essential question.
(Edited to add the "tethering" line, since that phrase was escaping me earlier.)
In other words, doing away with the Electoral College requires a Constitutional Amendment. Altering the way states "send" Electors to the Congress would require the National Popular Vote Compact. But is there a possibility for the other part, how Congress "receives" votes from Electors, to be accounted for in a (literally) fool-proof, coup-proof way??
What worries me about this idea is that unscrupulous Senators (not naming names) could invent or overlook irregularities to force the Electoral College votes in enough states to bring in the popular vote loser. This legislation would in other words be very difficult to draft and could lead to even more litigation over who is President.
That's the trick, isn't it? haha
It would need to be written to exclude tampering with the vote totals themselves but bypassing fake Electors and their fake Electoral College Votes, to "tether" the votes for each state to their popular vote totals, thereby ensuring that the minority candidate CAN'T win the Electoral College Vote since there are no discrepancies between the Electoral College and the actual on-the-ground popular vote totals, as reported by municipal election officials.
The law I'm dreaming of would not be used in cases of objections to the certification of Electors from certain states as such, but rather to ensure that each state's municipal-level popular vote total reflects clearly in the Electoral College vote corresponding to that state, to ensure that the majority of actual citizens country-wide can determine their own President. It would alter how the Congress "receives" the "Electoral College Votes" from the states, essentially bypassing the Certification process entirely, I guess, and replacing it with, ...I guess, trust in the municipal-level election officials, who have been standing strong and bearing the brunt of anger and such through all of this "rigged election" nonsense from the MAGA crowd.
I’m not sure whether it would be Constititional but don’t see any harm in approaching your elected rep(s) and see if they want (to take credit for) your idea! Good luck!
I really think it’s time to get rid of the electoral college! Most votes win. State voting will always smell like manure here in Wisconsin with the Gerrymandering.
It's extremely upsetting that one man's narcissistic quest for maximum power and exposure has taken a system that has largely operated on good faith and honesty and turned it into a game of competing checks and balances, a naked rush for power that no one will have full faith in. And that's without going into voter suppression and intimidation!
Great article- thanks!
Name calling doesnt make friends. Collins is not wacky and I support peace and liberal views.
Right, DJT is nothing more than a schoolyard bully. (How he calls “racism” even to his adoring fans is also extremely hard to figure.) Honestly don’t see him winning a second election after the hash he made of the US economy and international standing his first time through. I’d be surprised if Putin even backed him a second time.
I’m of (at least) two minds on this column.
On the one hand, yes it’s truly frightening to see how easily pending “improvements” to election law are, imo persuasively, argued down. (Not to mention, how many of us are watching the ball as closely as Judd et al; vs simply demanding reform and imagining that lawmakers are smarter than everyone else so of COURSE they’ll figure this stuff out before writing new, worse laws?)
But the logic of breezily dismissing the third branch of government as “antiquated” seems unkind at best, and fatally flawed at worst. Actually, “the idea that the judiciary — and ultimately the Supreme Court — will insulate the process from political gamesmanship” is integral to our Constitution (which by providing life appointments for certain federal judges, does indeed insulate those judges from campaigning to keep their jobs, and therefore from the sort of pandering/gamesmanship we Americans otherwise seem to consider to be a semi sacred right of “true” democracy).
Obviously, Article I judges have biases and limitations, and on the whole are probably more conservative than the population at large. But to dismiss them as unlikely to rule fairly when a Governor attempts outright fraud against a state electorate seems unduly pessimistic to me.