The “Bloomberg Scenario” www.npr.org/… provided a frightening view into the perils of an election thrown to the Electoral College because no candidate received 270 electoral votes. Perhaps the former mayor of New York was a bit grandiose in claiming he could wind up with the highest electoral plurality, or even a majority of the then-meaningless popular vote, but his vision of getting into the race to stop Trump resulting in Trump or Cruz sent to the White House by a Republican-controlled congress was a horror he was not willing to enable. I’ll give him props for that.
But I think the mayor understates the problem. The GOP House leadership, such as it is, would be unlikely to align itself behind either The Donald or Ted “The Canadian” Cruz if they had a more palatable choice...as in “more easily manipulated by the oligarchy class." The Electoral College - or the Congress, should it get that far - is constitutionally required to choose a president from among the top three vote getters in the general election. Assuming the GOP leadership has any regard for the constitution (a fair question) and doesn’t try to ram another choice not in the top 3 past a 4-4 deadlocked SCOTUS, here is an even more terrifying prospect. I will call this “The Bloomberg Meltdown”.
Kingmakers who have largely been kneecapped by the Trump Ascendency — the Koch Bros, Adelman, et al. - now have the opportunity to choose a puppet candidate who doesn't have to beat Trump, just be well-financed enough to peel away a sliver of electorate and steal a few close states that Secretary Clinton might have otherwise carried. Clinton gets 265 of the necessary 270 electoral votes (perhaps even wins the majority of the popular vote), Trump gets another 200-and-change, and the remainder go to the puppet.
The Electoral College is deadlocked. The decision is sent to the House of Representatives, where the Kochs run up and down the aisles invoking their First Amendment right to throw wads of cash at people who will choose the third option…
...President Scott Walker?
Well, I’m sure not getting any sleep until the deadline to file for eligibility in the general election passes.
UPDATE: Mitt Romney has apparently just made that filing. Mitt could lose three times — once in the primaries, once as the GOP nominee, and once as an independent/3rd party candidate — and become POTUS on his third failed attempt.