Free Republic

A book by George C. Edwards III, 2004. Democracy is always an easy sell. If you admire democracy, if you feel that America is or should be a democracy, you’ll enjoy this book. If the 2000 election angered you not because Al Gore sought to extend recounts until Florida “got it right,” but instead because he won half a million more votes nationwide than George Bush and still lost, then this book is for you. Purpose of the Electoral College. However, if you believe the Framers’ system served a distinct and noble purpose, that of providing an endless succession of...

NEW YORK - Leonardo DiCaprio is bringing out the big guns to get out the vote. Tom Cruise, Julia Roberts, Harrison Ford, Will Smith, Steven Spielberg and Justin Timberlake are among the celebrities starring in a new public service announcement produced by the actor, who also appears in the spot. The video shows the stars struggling to grasp the concept of using reverse psychology to get young people into voting booths... Finally, Ford says, “You know what? I can’t do it. It’s not true, I don’t believe it — 537 people decided the 2000 election, and you want me to...

Leaders of a national campaign to elect the president by popular vote are hoping to gain ground in Massachusetts, a state proponents say has largely been ignored by presidential candidates who spend most of their time and money in states that don't have a strong party allegiance. Although leaders of the National Popular Vote Campaign say the issue is resonating with voters across the country, local lawmakers are less than enthusiastic about the proposed legislation. If Massachusetts joins Maryland, the first state to sign the inter-state compact into law, it would have to cast its 12 Electoral College votes for...

Some states try to ensure that the winner of popular vote becomes president. SAN DIEGO Picture it: On election day in some future year, a presidential candidate ends up with the most popular votes but not enough electoral votes to win. It's a repeat of the 2000 election in which one contender, Democrat Al Gore, took the majority of the national popular vote, while the other, Republican George W. Bush, clinched the most electoral college votes and, hence, the presidency. But this time there's a twist: A bunch of states team up and give all their electoral college votes to...

Al Gore. State election officials ultimately declared George W. Bush the winner by a margin of 537 votes, but during and after the election dispute, questions remained about the uncounted ballots of 175,010 voters, ballots that had been rejected by error-prone tabulating machines employed in many Florida counties. Confusion and conflict, much of it generated by partisan intrigue, prevented these ballots from being counted during the election controversy. However, in 2001 every uncounted ballot was carefully examined in a scientific study by the University of Chicago, which concluded that when all the votes were counted, more votes had been cast...