"This business will get out of control. It will get out of control and we'll be lucky to live through it."
--- Admiral Josh Painter - (Fred Dalton Thompson) Hunt for Red October - 1990
Posted on 06/03/2011 7:25:02 PM PDT by EternalVigilance
I’d like to see that again.
"This business will get out of control. It will get out of control and we'll be lucky to live through it."
--- Admiral Josh Painter - (Fred Dalton Thompson) Hunt for Red October - 1990
What debates did you watch? McCain was the weakest debater out of a weak bunch. I hate saying this, but Romney was the strongest debater 4 years ago.
Well, he’s still a more principled conservative than Hucksterbee.
The FRaudster was nothing more than McLame’s b!tch...hanging in just long enough to pull the McLame ‘straight talk express’ out of the ditch (when the McLame campaign was all but toast). When that mission was accomplished and McLame was a shoe-in for the nomination, the FRaudster made a B-line for the sidelines. No suprises on whom he supports for 2012:
http://race42012.com/2008/02/09/fred-thompson-officially-endorses-mccain/
Indeed. Rick Perry's the latest "true conservative" flavor of the week that a bunch of conservatives are swooning over and trying to "draft" for President, despite the fact his record is little different from Pawlenty. A bunch of freepers apparently care more about a candidate who talks tough and acts conservative than one who actually governs that way.
The founding fathers were not perfect or infallible. The only reason the electoral college exists is they were deadlocked between those who wanted Congress to choose the President (like how state legislatures would choose Senators) and those who wanted the President to be directed elected via popular vote (like how Congressmen would be elected). I don't think either scenario would have worked on a national scale, especially with the size the country is today. If Congress choose the President, Pelosi would have taken control of this country in 2006 and we'd probably still have a RAT President now because Republicans didn't win the Senate in 2010. If it was direct popular vote, New York City, L.A., Chicago, etc. would pick our President for the rest of America.
The electoral college system compromise was probably the best option (have the people INDIRECTLY elect the President by choosing electors representing that person), but it too has serious problems. As others have noted on this thread, most states choose electors based on statewide popular vote. That "winner take all" system just inflicts the popular vote problem on a small statewide scale, as big cities can outvote the rest of the state (a perfect example being here in Illinois where Pat Quinn was elected to govern "all of Illinois" by just winning 3 out of 102 counties!) The electoral college could use reforms. As at least three other posts on this thread have mentioned, the idea system would be to allocate electoral votes by each congressional district. That's currently only used in Maine and Nebraska. (under that system, Bush would have still won in 2000, since he carried more Democrat districts than Gore carried Republican districts). It would allow regions of the state in the minority to be represented in the electoral college (especially important if the "winner" only gets 51% of the state's votes), and it would prevent the mainstream media from calling an entire state based on early xit polls in some urban area.
If we get politicians to stop gerrymandering congressional districts and instead have impartial computer drawn districts, combined with an electoral college system based on those districts, we'd far better system than we have today for electing a president (and if we can fix our primary system so Iowa and N.H. stop picking our nominees for the rest of us!)
The "original constitution" may have specified that the House of Reps. was the only federal body that voters could elect and defeat from office, but that was a mistake, IMO. If it were up to me, voters would be able to vote on retention of supreme court judges and other federal judges. That would take a constitutional amendment but I think this reform would be better than what they came up with in 1788. Freepers want to talk about "states rights", well look at the states can elect their judges, look at the ones where the judges are appointed by political bureucrats for life, and ask yourself which system works better?
The founding fathers were very good men and had a lot of great ideas. But they were not gods and not everything they wrote down in 1788 is perfect and must never be altered. People used to be concerned that Catholics in this country worshipped the Pope and thought he was perfect and never erred. I've met a Catholic who feels that way about the Pope. But I have seen freepers who feel that way about the founding fathers and the government that existed in 1789. I find that troubling.
LLS
The electoral college is a valuable tool. It localizes vote fraud and empowers the states, particularly those with smaller populations.
Incorrect. They may choose electors on any basis they see fit.
and does not violate an individual right.
A law does not need to violate an individual right in order to be unconstitutional.
We can see how well the 17th amendment worked which changed the control of the Senators from state Legislatures to a
“popular vote”..........essentially a 2nd House of Reps at this stage.
Our Founding Fathers did everything for a reason after much thought and debate........
Leave it alone. In fact get the 17th back to orginal set up is what the focus should be.
Citizens of the States have the power to eliminate those that tread on their rights... unless all elections are done away with.
LLS
what did you expect from draft dodging head of senate centrist coalition?
Always a Rino..
“A state is not required to conduct a vote AT ALL as a means of selecting it’s Electors.”
You are 100% correct, but you also miss the point by 100%.
No, a state DOES NOT have to conduct a vote to select electors.
But - and its a VERY BIG BUT - if a state DOES conduct a vote as the means of selecting electors, then it must respect the outcome of that vote, and not change it. To do so would violate the Supreme Courts dictum:
“Having once granted the right to vote on equal terms, the State may not, by later arbitrary and disparate treatment, value one person’s vote over that of another.”
If a state such as California wants to sign on the the “popular vote” movement, that’s all well and good. They can do so — SO LONG AS THEY ABOLISH THE ELECTION TO CHOOSE ELECTORS (shouting intentional). Get rid of the election in toto, and now the state legislature can select electors however they wish, and it’s completely Constitutional.
But — again — if they HAVE an “election”, then they also have to abide by its results (the “results” being the total of the state’s voters, not modified or changed in any way).
Having written this, I wouldn’t be surprised if you actually see a movement in one or more ‘rat states to actually abolish the “election for President” and have the state legislature choose electors based on the popular vote in OTHER states. Some fool will actually propose doing this. Mark my words.
My prediction:
When the Supreme Court rules on the “popular vote” compact between the states, it will be invalidated by the reasoning I’ve outlined above.
Just sayin’....
Yes, I agree with you.
Then you haven’t looked at how the population is spread out. There are millions more people in suburban and rural areas than in large cities. With a 50% +1 system, you would get a runoff nearly every time.
Also with the current system, people are discouraged to vote because they think their state will go one way or the other and their vote won’t really make any difference.
How would that be possible when those three States have only 75 million people COMBINED? If you’re suggesting fraud then please show me any election in these States where total votes equals three times the population.
Fred old chap, that is exactly what happened in 2000; thank God.
Why should I show you anything. I am predicting that when it’s worthwhile you’ll see fraud like you’ve never seen before.
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