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Ouch: More Electors Bolted From Clinton Than Trump
Townhall.com ^ | December 19, 2016 | Matt Vespa

Posted on 12/19/2016 7:05:31 PM PST by Kaslin

Well, it’s all over. Donald J. Trump has officially won the 2016 election, nabbing 304 electoral votes. Today, Democratic and Republican electors ventured to their respective state capitals and cast their ballots to make the 2016 election official. The Republican House will verify the results in January, but it’s done. Trump will become the 45th president of the United States on January 20. There were rumors of defections or maneuvers among electors to lobby enough Republican electors to break from Trump. Attorney and brief 2016 Democratic candidate Lawrence Lessig said that 20 Trump electors could flip. In the end, more Clinton electors bolted from her than Republican ones abandoning Trump (via The Hill):

Four Democratic electors in Washington state cast votes for candidates other than Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton, who carried the state.

Democratic electors in Maine, Minnesota and Colorado have separately tried to cast votes for different candidates, but saw their ballots barred. Clinton carried all three states.

Ahead of the Electoral College vote, the focus was on whether any voters would defect from casting ballots for Republican Donald Trump.

That didn’t happen. But two Republican electors in Texas chose alternatives to Trump. One, who had said weeks earlier he would switch is vote, chose Ohio Republican Gov. John Kasich. The other chose former Texas Republican Rep. Ron Paul.

Trump sealed his victory Monday evening when Texas’ 36 electoral votes pushed him over the edge of 270 with 304 votes.

[…]

One Maine elector expressed interest in going rogue by voting for Bernie Sanders instead, but was told he could not and voted for Clinton.

Christine touched upon this earlier, but one Democratic elector in Washington State voted for “faith spotted eagle” instead of Clinton.

This pie-in-the-sky effort to block Trump was loaded with problems, namely how Trump electors would never leave the man. Second, 29 states have binding election laws in which the votes of the Electoral College go to the statewide winner. Two Colorado electors filed a lawsuit to have these rules tossed. Two Colorado-based judges rejected it; one of them being a federal judge nominated by President Bill Clinton. This legal shutdown pretty much shut down the lobbying of Republican electors for Ohio Gov. John Kasich, who discouraged this course of action. Electors who go against the statewide winner in states that have these binding laws are usually replaced and could face legal charges. So, the whole exercise is moot to begin with.

To make matters even more sad, Hollywood liberals, the people whose unbridled snobbery and elitism contributed to Clinton’s defeat, cut a video pleading with Republican electors to vote their conscience and block Trump. Yeah, talk about bringing an arsonist to put out a fire. The Right already can’t stand the Hollywood Left—and rightfully so. You think a video with them pleading with GOP electors, saying they stand with them, is going to change their minds? And you wonder why you guys lost in 2016. Middle America doesn’t connect with you and they really don’t like you. For goodness sake, your gal called Trump supporters "deplorable."

A shaky hold on the Obama coalition, more of your electors bolting from you than your opponent's, epic losses in Congress, and near destruction at the state and local level—I think the Democratic Party is going to have a long stay in the wilderness, unless the GOP helps them out of it by royally screwing up after January 20.


TOPICS: Culture/Society; Politics/Elections
KEYWORDS: constitution; constructionism; constructionist; donaldtrump; electoralcollege; feelthebern; hillary2016; hillaryrottenclinton; scotus
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1 posted on 12/19/2016 7:05:31 PM PST by Kaslin
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To: Kaslin

Ha Ha!


2 posted on 12/19/2016 7:06:02 PM PST by vladimir998 (Apparently I'm still living in your head rent free. At least now it isn't empty.)
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To: Kaslin

3 posted on 12/19/2016 7:06:38 PM PST by combat_boots (God bless Israel and all who protect and defend her! And please, God, bless the USA again.)
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To: Kaslin

One Clinton Elector voted for Sanders in HI


4 posted on 12/19/2016 7:08:22 PM PST by Az Joe (11-8-2016-----We're still here President Reagan!!)
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To: Kaslin

Why does Drudge NOT have a siren for Trump win?


5 posted on 12/19/2016 7:09:00 PM PST by TribalPrincess2U (0bama's agenda�Divide and conquer seems to be working.)
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To: Kaslin

I saw that video today on the Animal Planet channel.

Odd place to buy political advertising.

The collection of communist degenerate wash ups and has beens was pathetic, the guy from MASH?

LOL


6 posted on 12/19/2016 7:10:10 PM PST by Rome2000 (SMASH THE CPUSA-SIC SEMPER TYRANNIS-CLOSE ALL MOSQUES)
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To: combat_boots

Shouldn’t that be “Vote Monica 2020”?


7 posted on 12/19/2016 7:12:57 PM PST by Fai Mao (PIAPS for Prison 2016)
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To: TribalPrincess2U

Why does Drudge NOT have a siren for Trump win?

Yep. Kind of disappointed he didn’t jump all over this story. He gave more attention to the electors possibly going another way.


8 posted on 12/19/2016 7:13:44 PM PST by boycott (S)
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To: Kaslin
"Hollywood liberals, the people whose unbridled snobbery and elitism contributed to Clinton’s defeat, cut a video pleading with Republican electors to vote their conscience and block Trump.

"Vote your conscience".....

Rings a bell. Now where have I heard that before?

9 posted on 12/19/2016 7:19:56 PM PST by Windflier (Pitchforks and torches ripen on the vine. Left too long, they become black rifles.)
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To: combat_boots

10 posted on 12/19/2016 7:21:27 PM PST by Helicondelta (Deplorable)
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To: Kaslin
Electors who go against the statewide winner in states that have these binding laws are usually replaced and could face legal charges. So, the whole exercise is moot to begin with.

Moot is not the word. Doomed is more like it.

11 posted on 12/19/2016 7:21:58 PM PST by dr_lew (I)
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To: Az Joe
Clinton's faithless electoral tally was:

3 for Colon Bowel
1 for Bernie Sanders
1 for Faith Spotted Eagle.

Kasich and Paul tied Bernie and Faith for the 4th runner-up spot.

12 posted on 12/19/2016 7:22:10 PM PST by Vigilanteman (ObaMao: Fake America, Fake Messiah, Fake Black man. How many fakes can you fit into one Zer0?)
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To: TribalPrincess2U

“Why does Drudge NOT have a siren for Trump win?”

The assassination of the Russian Ambassador got top billing today. Kind of important...

The EC vote was a special moment for us, but was fully anticipated, and something of an anti-climax.


13 posted on 12/19/2016 7:23:50 PM PST by Windflier (Pitchforks and torches ripen on the vine. Left too long, they become black rifles.)
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To: Helicondelta

As I read somewhere else, that’s quite possibly the first time Bill’s ever been faithful to Hillary.


14 posted on 12/19/2016 7:24:04 PM PST by Little Pig
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To: Helicondelta

The husband of a candidate is an elector?


15 posted on 12/19/2016 7:24:32 PM PST by Cementjungle
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To: All

More details here about the five faithless Democrat electors, four from WA and one from HI.

http://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/politics/four-washington-electors-break-ranks-and-dont-vote-for-clinton/

Apparently they used the furore over Trump as an excuse to push their own Democrat vs Democrat agendas. Three voted for Colin Powell, one (the HI voter) for Bernie Sanders, and one for Faith Spotted Eagle who turns out to be an elderly Sioux woman involved in the recent pipeline demonstrations.

Each of them chose an alternate VP choice as well.

From what I recall reading about this subject, this is almost a twenty per cent increase in the total number of faithless electors since the electoral college began. The only larger mutiny IIRC was when Virginia voted en masse for the losing candidate because the winner had some sort of relationship with a slave back around the 1830s. I think that accounted for 23 faithless electors. Most of the other few examples were either lone protest votes of no real consequence, or in one case just a blunder (a MN elector named John Edwards in 2004 instead of Kerry, and to top it off he spelled it John Ewards).

It would appear that Trump’s two defections went to Kasich and Ron Paul.

So Colin Powell has finished third in a presidential election without even spending a dime, that must infuriate Gary Johnson although I betcha Colin knows where Aleppo is.


16 posted on 12/19/2016 7:27:02 PM PST by Peter ODonnell (Listen for my radio call-in program on channel A in your brain, yes caller ... I'm listening)
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To: Kaslin

This is a lousy precedent.


17 posted on 12/19/2016 7:28:05 PM PST by VRW Conspirator (Enforce the Law. Build the Wall.)
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To: Helicondelta

He knows that there will be no more nubile interns. And mama is gonna be stomping around the house all pissed off for the rest of his life. His cartoon bubble simply reads “FML”


18 posted on 12/19/2016 7:28:23 PM PST by Spruce
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To: Helicondelta

Something is strange about that hand.


19 posted on 12/19/2016 7:28:25 PM PST by Karl Spooner
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To: Helicondelta

Electors bolting then was Fake News by the LSM. Bill has fake tears just like after the Ron Brown funeral.


20 posted on 12/19/2016 7:33:30 PM PST by taterjay
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