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Anyone who should vote, already knows who they intend to vote for. I am not one of the roaring crowd that says every American adult citizen should vote. In fact, I urge those who by now know nothing about the candidates running, to stay home and not vote at all. – Ray
Hello America. Hello world.
From the headquarters of reachmorenow.com in Fort Worth, Texas, this is Ray Mossholder and this is a special report: The Electoral College: Could it Change America’s Final Vote?
Some of you may have wondered why I have stayed so clear of the midterm elections that will take place November 4 throughout America. The reason I’ve mentioned nothing about it is because the decisions the voters will make this time are so clear-cut that I doubt they require any lengthy explanations from me.
A vote for the Republican candidate is a vote that declares “I am extremely unhappy with President Obama and I do not want the House or Senate to stand with him in the terrible decisions he is and has been making. I believe a Republican led House and Senate would give Republicans the power to stop Obama from continuing his bad decisions. ” Or it could mean “I prefer the Republican candidate over any of his or her opponents.”
A vote for the Democrat candidate is a vote that generally declares either “I am an Obama supporter and I definitely want to help him continue the changes he is making in America,” or “I’m voting for the better candidate when compared to any of his or her opponents.”
Of course, there are always dyed in the wool Republicans or Democrats who simply vote a straight party ticket no matter who is running. You must’ve heard the saying “The devil could get elected if he represented my political party.” And some presidents seem to have proved that point!
In nearly every state, Democrat candidates are clearly avoiding any connection with President Obama this time as much as if he was an Ebola virus carrier!
There are some Independents and Libertarians that will also be on the ballot in some states, but if any Libertarians win an election it will make headlines. In elections, Libertarian winners are nearly impossible to find. They, instead, are generally considered “spoilers” who garner just enough votes to affect the election results. The one exception to that could be Republican- Libertarian Rand Paul in 2016. A lot will happen between now and then that will determine the winner. I’ve heard the name Hillary Clinton bandied about by some Democrats who want one of their own to continue in the White House. And Hillary, for many, has the one qualification needed to win = she is a woman.
Anyone who should vote, already knows who they intend to vote for. I am not one of the roaring crowd that says every American adult citizen should vote. In fact, I urge those who by now know nothing about the candidates running, to stay home and not vote at all. Incumbents generally are voted back in by those who go into a voting booth and simply recognize their name. That’s tragic. I also urge those who are used to entering the voting booth and throwing darts at the ballot. Then voting for wherever it sticks. Please stay home too. The issues facing America today are far too serious for any kind of lackadaisical non-thinking voter to mess it up.
But on this report I’m going to bypass the midterm and concentrate on the 2016 presidential election. Let’s look at something that by far the most voters never think of when they cast their ballots – the electoral college – because it is the ultimate decider in any modern-day election.
It may surprise you to know that our founding fathers did not have much faith in the wisdom of the largely uneducated people of America who were living in their time. So they set up the electoral college to act as a game-changer in case the people – in their mind – voted wrong.
Any vote you cast during a presidential election is a vote not entirely for your chosen candidate, but for your electors in your state to consider your vote seriously and yet not be legally bound by it. After all official votes are counted, the electors of your state will still be the ones who will determine how they will cast their votes in the Electoral College.
And all electoral voters are not created equal. The amount of electors for each state is determined by the size of the population in each state. For example, California has 55 electoral voters, but Rhode Island has only 4. That’s why many people believe today that the Electoral College should be done away with so that the candidate with the most votes from the combined total of all the states would be elected without the electoral college existing to have any say at all. That popular thinking is called “the popular vote.”
Technically, each elector from all fifty states has made a promise that they will vote for the presidential candidate that wins the popular vote of their state, but promises can be broken. The federal law does not demand it. A maverick elector could decide to vote for the candidate of their choice rather than for the popular winner and there would be no law against that. There is a name for an elector who would do that. They are called a “faithless elector”.
24 states do have a law that discourages the elector from doing such a thing. But in 23 of those states, all except Michigan, the electors vote would stand. Michigan is the only state that would void such a faithless elector’s vote. 26 states have no law at all regarding this kind of situation and the electors are as free as they choose to be.
Grover Cleveland
When Grover Cleveland overwhelmingly won the national popular vote in 1888, the Electoral College did go rogue and gave the election to the man who they wanted in office – Benjamin Harrison. And though there was lots of hooping and hollering nationwide, the law was on the Electoral College’s side. Benjamin Harrison became president. That could happen again at any time.
Benjamin Harrison
Even more ironic was the plight of Andrew Jackson.
Andrew Jackson, hero of the War of 1812
Jackson won both the nationwide popular vote AND the Electoral College vote in 1824. But he did not win the majority of Electoral College votes. Therefore he lost even though he had won! The law of the land said, as it does today, that in such a case the vote is to be decided by the House of Representatives. They voted for John Quincy Adams who then became president of the United States.
In Washington DC today, millions of dollars are given under the table so that America’s citizens never know it’s happened. With the vast fortune that both parties need to win any election today, it is not inconceivable that one of the top echelon of government could buy an elector’s vote. What would you do if you were offered a million dollars to cast a vote as a faithless elector? That would be at least a somewhat tempting offer, wouldn’t it? And there are enough morally bankrupt people in our nation who would be glad to do it for less so that they could give you “the best president money could buy!”
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THOUGHT FOR THE DAY
People are not against political jokes.
They just wonder how so many of them get elected.
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And until next time, this is Ray Mossholder praying for you my friend. Have a miraculous day!
The Electoral College: Could It Change America"s Final Vote? from Ray
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