Posted as a comment on Congressman Erik Paulsen’s Facebook wall. Erik Paulsen (R) is opposed by Terri Bonoff (DFL).
September 3, 2016 65 days till election day
Congressman Paulsen's campaign is trying very hard to keep the word "Trump" out of the conversation. This effort sometimes borders on the ridiculous, such as during the recent debate with DFL candidate Terri Bonoff, Paulsen tried to compare Nancy Pelosi to Donald Trump. (tinyurl.com/...) For one thing, Paulsen should be aware that Pelosi doesn't have the ability to employ nuclear weapons. Furthermore Pelosi is not a xenophobe, hasn't a record of failed businesses nor anything comparable to a Trump University in her background. In a last face-saving attempt in that debate he says "Anyone can earn my vote…except Hillary Clinton."
Well here's a question for you, Mr Paulsen. Suppose the presidential election is NOT settled by the electoral college. This will happen if no candidate reaches 270 electoral votes. In that case, the vote for president goes to the House of Representatives, where they choose from the 3 candidates who obtained the most votes. Whom will you vote for then? Even though each state votes as a block, we don't know yet what Minnesota's congressional composition will be on January 3. This is isn't a hypothetical question: In fact, Evan McMullin, a Republican who opposes Trump is running an independent campaign for president precisely with this strategy in mind. Get enough votes to prevent any candidate getting to 270. Given that there are two other candidates Gary Johnson and Jill Stein who are also getting votes, this is in fact a real possibility.
Erik Paulsen needs to tell his constituents in MN-03 whom he supports in the presidential election. He cannot claim this a private matter. His DFL challenger Terri Bonoff has made it very clear she supports Hillary Clinton. Paulsen has explicitly said he will not vote for Clinton. Whom then?