A friend from my church
http://uupoconos.org
Angela, posted her letter on Facebook today.
She was writing to a Republican State senator about the proposal to change the way Pennsylvania awards electoral college votes for 2016. I wonder if he will reply. Not too hopeful about this, but maybe we can put a bit of progressive pressure for more than a form letter.
In light of the recent proposal by State Senator Dominic Pileggi of Pennsylvania to re-apportion how Pennsylvania awards it's Electoral Votes in future Presidential Elections, I have written the following letter to my State Senator, Patrick M. Browne (regrettably a Republican) urging him to reject this proposal:
Even George Will called this a sleazy ploy -
Republicans supposedly revere the Constitution, but in its birthplace, Pennsylvania, they are contemplating a subversion of the Framers’ institutional architecture. Their ploy — partisanship masquerading as altruism about making presidential elections more “democratic” — will weaken resistance to an even worse change being suggested.
I am quoting Angela's entire letter below. She has give me permission to post this ok DK - thanks Angela!
Dear Senator Browne,
I am in receipt of your recent letter regarding concerns I have about the proposed change to Pennsylvania's apportionment of Electoral College votes in future Presidential elections. First, I wish to thank you for your reply, although it fails to address any of the concerns I raised, so I will raise them again here, and ask for your honest and frank answers to these questions, and not just a form letter.
1. You state, in your letter, that the goal of this legislation is "to more fairly distribute Electoral Votes in a way that is representative of the relative approval of Presidential candidates by Pennsylvania voters."
If this is your goal, it is a truly laudable one. Do you not believe that Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, Kentucky, South Carolina, Tennessee, Louisiana, and Texas voters deserve the same representation?
I am aware that you have no jurisdiction or control over how those other states apportion THEIR Electoral Votes, but please explain to me why such proposals have only surfaced in states which Obama won in 2012, and which are controlled, on a state level, by Republican legislatures?
I will note that Virginia and Wisconsin both considered and rejected such proposals to change the way in which they apportion their Electoral Votes, because it was very obvious that this was nothing more than an attempt to rig future Presidential elections in favor of the Republican Party.
Since you state in your letter that you are concerned about making changes to "a system which was established pursuant to our original Federal Constitution" - I had no idea Republicans were very concerned about our Constitution (remember George W. Bush calling it "just a piece of paper"?) - I think you would be well advised to vote against any such proposal to re-apportion our Electoral Votes, unless an equivalent number of currently Republican-leaning Electoral Votes are likewise apportioned in the way you and Senator Pileggi propose.
To that end, I propose that if Tennessee and Alabama (which together represent 20 Republican-leaning Electoral Votes) consider and pass such legislation as you suggest for Pennsylvania, then I would fully support Senator Pileggi's idea, and your vote in favor of it.
However, I would note that changing Pennsylvania from a winner-take-all state into an apportioned state would likely cause Pennsylvania to lose it's status as a Swing state, causing Presidential candidates to ignore the state in campaigns. This, I believe, would be inimical to the interests of the voters and citizens of Pennsylvania, and would also negatively impact our state economy, as candidates would significantly lower their spending in Pennsylvania.
I do hope you will consider the negative impacts of the proposed legislation on our economy, the interest of voter education, and the original intent of the Framers of our beloved Constitution, which I know you cherish.
For these reasons, I am asking you to reject Senator Pileggi's proposed legislation - which is little more than a veiled attempt to gerrymander that Presidential election in favor of the Republican Party - as you have already done with Pennsylvania's Congressional Districts.
In closing, for your information, 52 percent of Pennsylvania voters voted for the Democratic Party in House and Senate races - yet we sent 13 Republicans and only 5 Democrats to the 113th Congress. does THAT sound like a fair distribution that is representative of "the relative appeal of Congressional candidates by Pennsylvania voters?"
I did not think so.
Sincerely,
Angela F. Bridgman
Monroe County - Pennsylvania