time.com/…
What is the tipping point that gets us, collectively on this site and as a nation, to start talking about the failsafe that is built into the Constitution to save us from this unfolding nightmare?
I've written about this pretty extensively over the last several days so I'm not going to go back over all the same ground here. Short version- Democrats can use some of their electoral votes on December 19th to ensure a third-party compromise candidate ends up with the third-highest total. This candidate has to be someone acceptable to traditional Republicans. 30 or so Republican Electoral College electors have to either abstain or vote other than Trump. Keep his total under 270. Many Republicans in the Electoral College will have a real personal interest in not seeing Trump president. We need to help them see that there can be another ending to this story.
This sets up what is called a contingent election in the house. Each state gets one vote cast by that State's delegation. The eligible candidates in this field are the top three that emerged from the Electoral College election.
Honestly I don't know how that vote in the house would go. There is a moderating effect because each delegation has to settle on a choice. I am quite sure there are people on this site that could dig into each State's delegation and come up with analysis of the likelihood voting in a third candidate.
And you know what? Even if we go that far and Trump still wins, we have further de-legitimized his presidency and weakened his position. Even if that is the goal, isn't that enough to make you want to try?
Let's get a couple of common objections out of the way. This is not un democratic, it's spelled out in detail in the Constitution. It’s one of the primary reasons the electoral college is in the Constitution to begin with.
There would be no "civil war" as a result of this action. Yes, some of the least desirable citizens among us will be very disappointed and will probably act out violently. We will be taking away their white supremacist presidency, after all. Would you rather law enforcement mops up those folks, or would you rather entrench their positions in power within our government.
And this doesn't open up the likelihood that every election hence will be attempted to be gamed in the EC. Each side still picks it's electors and it's candidate. If their, or our, future candidates are so flawed that THEIR OWN electors can be swayed against them, then that candidate has no business being president.
Dec 19th is coming fast, folks. The window to mount the necessary grass roots swell of support is closing fast.