There is unprecedented pressure on the Electoral College to stop the election of Donald Trump. Most of this is pie-in-the-sky – but not all of it. There is one outcome that an appeal to conscience and the Founders’ vision could achieve.
Enough Electors could abstain, and force the House of Representatives to vote.
Regardless of the result with a majority of Republican state delegations, one outcome is certain: this would produce an astonishing public debate within the House. The nation would come to near standstill as this occurred, live, broadcast across our country and the world.
Each Representative would stand on record, now and for the future, for their own vote. The true issues at stake, and the true character of this man, would be debated. The danger of tyranny would be named.
The Electors in states that Donald Trump won who have difficulty accepting the possibility that they personally may place this odious man at the center of national power now find themselves in an unexpected quandary. Of course, they won't vote for Clinton. That ship has sailed (and yes, I signed the online petition demanding this); it would no longer be in the national interest, despite her vast superiority for the post and the cruel media distortion of her that was created.
Here is a solution that provides a distinctly honorable course. The Electors' Constitutional duty must give them pause – but how could they justify changing their vote? The Constitution provides a clear alternative. First, states choose Electors. If these cannot choose a President, then the decision moves to the House. That's the Founders vision, and that's the Constitutional process. Modern conscience meets original intent.
There are facts on the ground we must accept as reality. The election has happened. House Republicans control a majority of state delegations. Hillary is not a realistic choice, even if that seems unfair. The Electoral College's role is still constitutionally active.
What will be the outcome if the vote is forced into the House of Representatives? We can't say. But here a few considerations.
First, if even just one elector chooses a third candidate to vote for, then that person's name is also submitted: the House must choose from among the top 3 choices of the Electors (12th Amendment). So... that's interesting.
Second, ain't no Bernie (etc.) outcome here, even if he became the third choice of electors. Republicans control the majority of state delegations in both the current and the next Congress, each state gets one vote, and that's that. The outcome will be a Republican choice.
Third, the most likely outcome is that Donald Trump would be elected. But think of how that would occur! The House debate will be bruising. It will be televised. All of his corruption, his pettiness, his bigotry, his tyrannical threat, would be openly debated. A Trump who wins this way would be limited in ways he can't be now. This would be a historic power swing toward Congress in the enduring contest among the branches of government – which could constrain Trump as president rather than permit him to rule over us as a God-Emperor on a balcony.
Fourth: none of this is good. Republicans are in the driver's seat. We can't change that now, and we can't change them. But we can make each of them personally responsible for this presidency, and accountable for their vote. This will be an important tool, I believe, to help safeguard our institutions.
Fifth: I can't imagine any outcome worse than an unrestricted Trump presidency, and I include the politically ghoulish Mike Pence in that equation. A restricted Trump is still the next worst imaginable option. Forcing this into the House is better than accepting that this would-be tyrant sails into the White House without challenge as though this is business-as-usual. If the House did somehow wind up choosing Pence or some compromise third option, I can't see that as worse – that's how dire the situation truly is! And if chosen by the House, he'd be constrained, too.
Finally, a certain outcome of enough Electors abstaining would be an extraordinary debate on the House floor, a time of national engagement, an astonishing moment that would focus the nation on the peril we face. The Electors who abstain could be proud that they dispatched their Constitutional duty with care and thought, in the interests of the republic, and in keeping with the Founders vision.
Electors: if you won't vote for Hillary and you won't vote for a third choice, you must abstain. You are personally responsible for whether Donald Trump becomes President of the United States of America.