They lost me when they used “California” and “GOP” in the same sentence.
(a) There is no California GOP.
(b) California’s contribution to the presidential election is an automatic 55 electoral votes for the democrat in the race.
(c) This isn’t going to change anytime soon.
What an awful idea! Stick with the Constitution. We certainly should have left the selection of Senators to the state legislatures, as the Founders established it, rather than allowing them to be elected by the people. This would be grossly compounding our errors.
This idea will work just great with our wide-open southern border and Libs welcoming illegals with every incentive under the sun!
We are a Republic - not a Democracy!
I highly doubt his own grandmother believes it.
What a crock!
Actually if anything it needs to start going the other way.
For example ages 25-65 can vote, veterans can vote, you can only vote for a congressman after living in the district for at least two years etc.
Too many cooks in the kitchen leads to terrible food.
The rationale for the NPV is BOGUS - the states with the HIGHEST populations will get the MOST attention and reliably partisan states will be bypassed [AS THEY ARE NOW].
The ONLY fair method [and the ONLY one that puts the election on an equal footing] is the Congressional District method ...
In this method, EACH electoral vote [representing a Congressional district] in EACH state is given equal weight
by awarding the vote to the winner of the Congressional district ...
The remaining two votes within a state [representing the Senate seats] are awarded to the winner of the majority vote within the state as a “bonus” ...
In this manner, candidates [without a SNOWBALL’S CHANCE IN HELL of winning a particular state] WOULD be VERY ENCOURAGED to campaign within that state to garner individual district electoral votes ...
The true irrelevance is the millions of conservatives who live in California and are entirely powerless to stop any of the radical leftist agenda that is festering there.
CA conservatives need to do us all a favor and move to a battleground state where they will make a real difference. Leave Commiefornia to the illegals and leftists.
This will be a boon for urbanites, who are mostly liberal Democrats.
There could be some conservative candidates who choose to spend no money in the more expensive big markets and funnel all of their advertising to less expensive rural areas, but then that will just exacerbate the Red State / Blue State rift.
And how the heck do you handle a recount if the vote is close?
If this actually helped the GOP it would never be pushed by the dims. Granted the dims are stupid and it could backfire on them but if so they would do a 180 on this issue in a New York minute.
There are also constitutional concerns, should this ever go into effect. But, SCOTUS will not ever rule on this UNLESS electoral votes are ever awarded to the winner of the NPV - due to its “ripeness” doctrine ...
In general, SCOTUS has previously ruled that each state has a “plenary” right in the method of selection of its electors ...
BUT, SCOTUS has ALSO ruled that [once a state has granted its citizens the right to vote for electors] 14th Amendment Equal Protection applies AND that those rights CANNOT be infringed [such as countermanding the majority vote within the state] ...
Headed to Court - IF it ever happens ...
Since I live in Commiefornia, I don’t even need to think about who I would vote for President in 2012.
The decision has already been made for me...
I know this is radical in our day, but I believe the Founders set up a system where each congressional district voted for an elector who went to Washington and chose a president.
In essence, your congressional district chose the guy in their district they thought would best serve the nation as president.
Those electors gathered and chose the president from their number of outstandingly qualified electors or from other outstandingly qualified Americans.
I like that republican system better.
It brought us George Washington.
And when the popular vote goes Republican and he gets the Cali votes,California will want to know what that conservative administration can do for California.There will still be no GOP presences outside of the inland areas,no offense meant to anyone from San Diego.
Basically President Obama disappointed them by not giving them everything so now they’re throwing the towel.
So Republicans should like this because it ostensibly “helps our side”?
Last time I checked, principles were principles. Just because something supposedly “helps our side” doesn’t make it right.
Choosing your stance on an issue based on whether it’s good for you personally is exactly what’s wrong with our politics today.
How about we instead decide on a core set of principles and stick to them? Gee, what a novel idea...
Absolutely! /s
California will come back into play, when Conservatives go there and fight for the state. No, they may not win the first election, but exposing the voters of California to sound Conservative principles will pay off.
When people see those principles lofted with that great a spot-light on them, they will see the value of them. Right now, in California those values are argued quietly in small setting, which many people tend to never hear about, or ignore.
If the Republican party would contest California broadly, with ten visits, it would help to turn the state around. We would see more local Republican leaders. We would see more state level Republican leaders. We would see the state move more to the right. We would see our presidential contenders return to a viable status in the state.
Folks, we haven’t had a serious full blown Republican presidential campaign in the state since Ronald Reagan. We’re talking 1984. 27 years without a serious Republican presidential run in the state, and we’re asking why the state is so far Left.
Pete Wilson was a luke warm milk-toast. Since him the Republican leadership has only supported Leftist leaning Republicans for governor here. Conservative guys didn’t get any state or federal support.
By Contrast, the Democrats bring out big names even for local elections. They compete for every single office in the state. Our Party doesn’t.
It’s like having a student show up to Biology class for five days one semester, and then question why he didn’t pass the class.
We have to expose the populace to Conservative principles with a very loud bullhorn. We’ve been doing it with a whisper.
No no and NO. There is a reason why the founders, some of the wisest men to ever walk the face of the earth, established the electoral college. They warned us over and over and over of mob rule and pure democracy and the dangers therein. Too bad some so called conservatives are buying into this.
If anything, a state like California would like lose a LOT of influence with a national popular vote in place because representation in Congress (and hence, Electoral Votes) is based on population, not registered voters. So a state where illegal immigrants or other unregistered voters make up a sizeable portion of the population is going to see its influence diminished compared to other states.