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s It Time For Conservatives To Support A National Popular Vote?
Townhall.com ^ | April 19, 2021 | Scott Morefield

Posted on 04/19/2021 4:15:50 AM PDT by Kaslin

When most conservatives think of the Electoral College, they think of one of the last bastions holding back the hordes of Democratic voters just frothing at the mouth to take away our liberties and turn us into a socialist, commie-lite one-party police state.

It’s only natural, considering that the last two instances where a U.S. president lost the popular vote yet won thanks to the current system came in 2000 with George W. Bush and 2016 with Donald Trump. Had we been under a popular vote system and Al Gore had won reelection in 2004, we could have conceivably been looking at 32 years of unimpeded Democratic Party rule, and the utter collapse of our Republic. You think things look bad now, imagine how bad it could have been, or so goes the logic.

I get it. The founders weren’t big fans of pure democracies and put safeguards in place to prevent the majority from overriding the minority. Hence, the Senate, where large and small states each get to send two, the Constitution, which can only be amended with the approval of three-fourths of the states, and the Electoral College, whereby electors from each state get to decide who the president is. With the office of the presidency seemingly becoming more consequential with each occupant, turning the choice of the world’s most powerful person over to the unimpeded will of the easily swayed masses seems like a risky proposition.

On the other hand, the current system seems pretty precarious too for conservatives, particularly given the results of the last election. Yes, President Joe Biden won the popular vote by 7 million votes, but he also won the Electoral College 306-232, a margin former President Donald Trump considered a “massive landslide victory” even as he lost the popular vote in 2016.

After voting Republican in six straight elections from 1968-1988, only George W. Bush in 2004 has won New Mexico for the GOP. Virginia, once a Republican bastion, turned blue in 2008 and hasn’t looked back. Georgia and Arizona have ‘officially’ turned purple, voting narrowly for Democrats in 2020. Texas, an absolute must-win for Republicans, hasn’t voted blue since 1976, but the margin grows slimmer each election cycle. Donald Trump won the state with only 52.07% of the vote in 2020.

In most if not all of those states, demographic changes brought about by both internal and external immigration have irrevocably shifted things left. If Texas goes, and many political analysts see that happening by 2028 at the latest, it will be structurally impossible for a Republican nominee to gain enough Electoral College votes to win the presidency. In fact, while Republicans have won the Electoral College but lost the popular vote twice in the past two decades, the opposite happening in the coming cycles is a more than conceivable scenario.

But that would never happen, you say, citing as ‘evidence’ that Republicans haven’t won a popular vote contest since 2004. Yes, but as Trump has pointed out, Republicans also have not been PLAYING to win the popular vote, which is an entirely different ‘game’ than campaigning non-stop in a few swing states.

If you’re a Republican in a state like California, for example, might you consider staying home, knowing you’re severely outnumbered by millions of wokists and your vote really doesn’t matter in the national scheme of things? Sure, maybe there’s a member of Congress you’d like to see elected, but is electing Devin Nunes (as good as he is) a reason to brave the traffic, the potholes, and the odds of getting mugged? I would say so, but are there some who might be on the fence, some who would be more likely to make an effort to make their voices heard if they knew their vote would be applied to electing the occupant of the highest office in the land? It’s hard to imagine not.

So in that sense, a national popular vote wouldn’t just ramp up voter participation, it could also conceivably help down-ballot party members in ways that are hard to anticipate and possibly good for congressional Republicans in blue states.

Of course, the retort to that is that Democrats could do the same in red states. That’s right, they could. But there is some evidence that Republicans could have more to gain with a national popular vote. For example, Oklahoma, a solidly red state, ranked dead last in voter participation for 2020. How many otherwise non-voting Oklahomans would jump at the chance to cancel out the vote of a New York Democratic socialist? I don’t know, but it’s probably more than a few.

And that’s really the point, after all. The presidential election is a national event, and it seems like it should be treated as such. Instead, the current system sees presidential candidates campaigning in, and making promises to, swing states only. In 2020, Michigan, Florida, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, Ohio, and North Carolina received the bulk of campaign visits, while states like Montana, Tennessee, Alabama, Oregon, Washington, and many more received a grand total of … zero.

In fact, 12 states received fully 96% of the general election campaign visits. If you’re a resident of one of those states, think you might have gotten a campaign promise or three? Conversely, how many campaign promises did Kentuckians receive? I live in Tennessee, and I don’t remember either Biden or Trump lobbying for my vote or promising me a damned thing. And worse, what does a president in office do when they know they must win, say, Michigan, in order to have a shot at a second term? Might this come at the expense of residents of another state? Wouldn’t it be better if ideas were vetted based on how they impacted the entire country instead of just a few states?

Sure, there are potential drawbacks, but one of them isn’t that it’s unconstitutional. The National Popular Vote Interstate Compact has already been enacted into law by the legislatures of 16 states, a power that the Constitution clearly grants. You might point out that those states are all currently run by Democrats, and you’d be correct. However, it’s also gaining traction in red states like Arkansas, Missouri, and Tennessee.

As Democrats cement their stranglehold on power, look for more and more Republicans to sign on to this idea as a last-ditch measure to open the playing field and try to beat Democrats by forcing them to defend their noxious ideas all over the map instead of just a few places. Hell, what have we got to lose?


TOPICS: Culture/Society; Editorial; Politics/Elections
KEYWORDS: donaldtrump; electoralcollege; georgewbush
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To: Kaslin

Should we also support the legalization of Incest and Pedophelia - after all, we’ve been against those forever, perhaps it’s time to also ‘put those issues behind us’?


41 posted on 04/19/2021 5:43:40 AM PDT by BobL (TheDonald.win is now Patriots.win)
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To: Kaslin

No

It is time for conservatives to cease being apathetic and counter the left with serious activism


42 posted on 04/19/2021 5:47:34 AM PDT by bert ( (KE. NP. N.C. +12) History: Pelosi was pitiful vindictive California crone)
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To: Kaslin

Ridiculous. When one party can manufacture votes out of whole cloth without repercussions, that’s the wrong time to be leaning into their takeover plans.


43 posted on 04/19/2021 5:51:52 AM PDT by OrangeHoof (Chinese communism will look different once the masks come off.)
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To: Alberta's Child

Not to mention, can you imagine a NATIONAL recount after Florida 2000? Had the courts not caved, we could have had one in 2020.


44 posted on 04/19/2021 5:54:51 AM PDT by OrangeHoof (Chinese communism will look different once the masks come off.)
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To: Kaslin

President Al Gore. That is, by far, the scariest sentence in the English language but for, President Hillary Clinton.


45 posted on 04/19/2021 6:00:26 AM PDT by Phlap (REDNECK@LIBARTS.EDU)
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To: Phlap
President Al Gore.

Was it all that much worse than 8 years of Dumbya?

46 posted on 04/19/2021 6:04:32 AM PDT by dfwgator (Endut! Hoch Hech!)
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To: liberalh8ter

Townhall has really gone downhill lately.

-——you are correct. Forever in my brain, i will see it as Downhill.


47 posted on 04/19/2021 6:17:39 AM PDT by drSteve78 (Je suis deplorable. WE'RE NOT GOING TO TAKE IT ANYMORE)
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To: hardspunned

This...national election is fraudulent....


48 posted on 04/19/2021 6:23:10 AM PDT by TnTnTn
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To: Kaslin
And that’s really the point, after all. The presidential election is a national event...

False. Writer fail.

49 posted on 04/19/2021 6:25:11 AM PDT by Mr.Unique (Thread spamming is a denial of service attack.)
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To: All

I support the Constitution. Not whatever process is better for my side.


50 posted on 04/19/2021 6:26:13 AM PDT by mmichaels1970
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bump


51 posted on 04/19/2021 6:26:58 AM PDT by foreverfree
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To: Kaslin

Then would other states have standing to bring charges against a state that have vote fraud?

The Rat Party Machined states will be able to dump millions more votes in NYCA and push up counts even in Rat districts in Republican/Conservative/non-Communist states.


52 posted on 04/19/2021 6:29:36 AM PDT by a fool in paradise (Lean on Joe Biden to follow Donald Trump's example and donate his annual salary to charity. )
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To: Sparky1776

Can you imagine a precinct by precinct audit?


53 posted on 04/19/2021 6:30:27 AM PDT by a fool in paradise (Lean on Joe Biden to follow Donald Trump's example and donate his annual salary to charity. )
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To: Kaslin
Yes, President Joe Biden won the popular vote by 7 million votes.

Biden won via voter fraud.

54 posted on 04/19/2021 6:38:11 AM PDT by Bon of Babble (Rigged Elections have Consequences)
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To: Kaslin

When you have a population of 150 million ballon to 350 due to the immigration of foreigners who hold little regard for our Constitution or culture this happens ...


55 posted on 04/19/2021 6:40:25 AM PDT by SecondAmendment (This just proves my latest theory ... LEFTISTS RUIN EVERYTHING !)
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To: spetznaz
People fleeing California’s inane and insane policies for the freedom promised by Texas, but unfortunately bringing with them the same vapid beliefs that ruined their former home state.

According to John Coupal of the Howard Jarvis institute this isn't true.

It is conservative Californians that are fleeing the state in droves - #1 destination being Texas:

When Californians started moving to Texas in big numbers, the concern of many Texans — was that those crazy, lefty Californians would bring their progressive politics with them. But it appears that Californians are making Texas, well, more like Texas.

Turns out that ex-pats living in — and voting in — Texas supported Senator Ted Cruz in his high-profile reelection bid by a 15 percent margin, with an older poll of Californians in Texas suggesting that by more than 2 to 1, they’re conservative vs. liberal.

The upshot is that California is exporting conservatives.

https://www.hjta.org/california-commentary/did-california-save-ted-cruz/

56 posted on 04/19/2021 6:47:11 AM PDT by Bon of Babble (Rigged Elections have Consequences)
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To: Kaslin

Mathematical proof of the merits of the Electoral College:

https://www.discovermagazine.com/the-sciences/from-the-archive-math-against-tyranny


57 posted on 04/19/2021 6:57:31 AM PDT by DuncanWaring (The Lord uses the good ones; the bad ones use the Lord.)
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To: Kaslin
None of this "look squirrel!" shat matters.

Unless and until the right matches the left in dirty tricks, or finds a way to stop the dirty tricks(good luck with that...with little to feckless platforms on which to educate the masses + completely compromised(infiltrated)institutions of Gov./education/finance), the left will continue to win the major battles, eventually winning the culture war/soul(less) of America. Can anyone deny they're already 80% + there?

Welcome to the NEW world, where as conservatives/traditionalists (AKA narrative/White Supremacists)you are being systematically marginalized into political/cultural irrelevancy/disdain.

So many analogies to "#D chess" over the years...well, "currently" the board is made up of mostly white pieces, but they are all pawns...being manipulated(PWNED?) into a position of removal by the fewer, but more powerful,(in this case more vocal/better financed/more devious)Knight, Bishop, Rook, King and Queen.

Now in a "fair" game(by the rules)victory(I suppose)is still possible(admitting to knowing NOTHING about the game myself)...but(as has become obvious)the other side(already with strategic advantage)no longer has to play by the rules(when your side controls media/academia/finance you can do that...all by design).

To ignore these facts, relying on old strategies...is to do so at your own peril.

FACT: THEY control the written/spoken word to the masses via monopolies on old/new media/academia/institutions of GLOBAL finance.

FACT: THEY just STOLE pretty much ALL the positions of (federal/political) power and are now emboldened to do that and more(like on the judicial/other level).

Now..."what's in YOUR wallet?"

"Faith can move mountains, Milt, but it can't beat a faster draw"

58 posted on 04/19/2021 7:09:20 AM PDT by RckyRaCoCo (Please Pray For My Brother Ken.)
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To: Kaslin

Not only NO but hell NO to the popular vote winner take all concept. In fact we should exhort the states to scrap the state level winner take all electoral vote concept and assign each states electoral votes based on who won their congressional district.


59 posted on 04/19/2021 7:15:40 AM PDT by ByteMercenary (Slo-Joe and KamelToe are not my leaders.)
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To: Kaslin

NO


60 posted on 04/19/2021 7:29:01 AM PDT by zeugma (Stop deluding yourself that America is still a free country.)
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