In case you haven’t heard, the Republicans don’t even want to wait until Election Day to steal 20 electoral votes this cycle. The CA GOP’s law firm, cloaked behind the admirable-sounding name Californians for Equal Representation, is sponsoring a ballot initiative called the Presidential Election Reform Act. If passed, it would apportion 53 of CA’s 55 electoral votes based on the ballots in individual congressional districts rather than winner-take-all for the whole state, thus throwing a bonus Ohioful of electoral votes to the Republican candidate without him winning a single additional state.
To be honest, this initiative scares the crap out of me. It’s like Joe Lieberman all over again: The GOP will back it, Republican voters will know it for their own, and low-information Democrats and Independents will be taken in by the semblance of reasonable moderateness. With enough suckers and crazybase Republican turnout, it could very well cobble together a majority of the total vote. Also worth mentioning that since CA decoupled the party primaries from the initiative primary, turnout will be low and GOTV will be decisive.
I’m no fan of the electoral college. Short of doing away with it altogether, some kind of proportional allotment seems like a good idea (although I would rather see it based on total statewide vote totals) – but not unilaterally. If this ballot passed, CA would have roughly 35 Democratic electoral votes, and 20 Republican ones, essentially giving it a net total of 15 when stacked up against all the other, winner-take-all states.
Do Californians really want to go from being the most important state in the presidential election to being roughly as influential as… Georgia?
Please, go to the Courage Campaign website, sign the online petition, and donate if you can. Remember, Double Ohio = Double Gitmo.
Related posts:
- BREAKING: California Court Upholds Prop 8, Allows Existing Marriages to Stand
- Prop 8 Decision: What to Expect from the California Supreme Court
- Will Zoe Loefgrin Vote $108 Billion for European Banks While California Goes Bankrupt?
- Please Welcome California Lt. Governor John Garamendi, Candidate for US House of Representatives, CA-10
- NJ-Gov: Polls Show Very Tight Race Between Corzine, Christie
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zed
Zed.
that close…congrats!
good night all.
Spokonoi nochi.
Georgia?
Watch your back there, Eli. That’s TRex country.
RonD @ 2
Almost, Ron!!!
Peterr @ 5
I didn’t say anything *bad* about it; I merely observed that it’s not a major player in presidential elections.
The night of the unzed.
I hate posting a comment to find that everyone’s headed upstairs… …discussion was off topic to begin with, but is it bad form to try to carry it up here?
Eli,
One possible saving grace is it would drive a movement to do it in every state. Somehow, I don’t think they’d be as happy to see it instituted in Florida, Texas, LA, MS, Michigan, Ohio and all the rest…
G’nite James :)
Boxer has a post on this on Huffpo
The California initiative is a political move.
But I support repeal of the electoral college.
Make each person’s vote equal.
dakine01 @ 10
This is what Boxer is arguing…if CA is going to do it, everyone should do it. If no one else is, CA shouldn’t.
dakine01 @ 10
I was wondering whether the Democrats should float a counter-initiative that would only take effect if all the other states adopted it too (again, though, preferably by vote totals rather than districts).
I am not a mod either, but this is what I have observed:
Generally, one should let the new topic play for a while before introducing off-topic; Discussions going on previous thread continue there in EPU land before a reasonable interval has passed on the new thread.
Hi Eli and Pups. This is the scariest thing I have seen in a while in terms of fair election. (And I want paper ballots. Period) I live in CA and will certainly do my part.
Has this proposition made it to the ballot? I thought there were hoops that needed to be executed perfectly first…
Ummm…are they just smarter than us???? Can we counter it elsewhere??
Hi LooHoo!
Loo Hoo. @ 17
Yeah, there are all kinds of hoops, but you can clear them if you have enough money.
I don’t think the GOP is going to be holding back on funds for something that could get them a bonus Ohio.
Hi Ron. Gonna run and check to see if Calitics has anything new.
Eli, I agree with both of your principle arguments, 1) Serious reform is needed of the Electoral College, which leads to, 2) It should not occur unilaterally!!!
From Calitics:
Leading Democrats are uniting with Hollywood producer Stephen Bing and hedge fund manager Tom Steyer to oppose a California ballot proposal they fear could hand the 2008 presidential election to the Republican nominee […]
In what is shaping up as an important subplot to the 2008 race, a political committee is being formed by Steyer that will raise money – possibly tens of millions of dollars – to defeat the GOP-backed idea.
The committee is being supported by Sens. Dianne Feinstein and Barbara Boxer, San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom, Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and Democratic leaders in the Legislature.
The proposal is a “power grab orchestrated by the Republicans,” Feinstein and Boxer said in a joint statement. It’s “another cynical move to keep the presidency in Republican control.”
Democrats were scheduled to announce formation of the committee, Californians for Fair Election Reform, on Thursday.
Vut ah yew? A bunch uf girlie men? I vill say how the eelectoral votes ah cownted because I am dee Guvanah.
-Arnold
Hey, I live in California and I want you to know that we are not easily suckered. Who’s our governor, you ask? Uh, never mind.
Eli @ 15
Well, since the electoral votes per state are determined by the number of CDs plus the 2 senators, it’s not a totally far fetched way to do things and would be a way of weaning from the winner takes all aspects of today. And it probably would force more nationwide campaigning than there is today. Just think, all those competitive districts would have the joys of seeing way too many campaign ads than they do today since a state can be considered a write-off today where a district within the state may be a toss-up or different shade than the rest of the state.
Here in Maine, we apportion Presidential votes proportionately. But since we’ve only got 2 Congressional districts, it’s not like it makes much difference.
However, we have Clean Elections, one can register to vote on election day, and even currently incarcerated felons can vote. Add in good old fashioned town meetings, and that’s Democracy!
I think one approach is to make that very clear, that the proposal would dilute CA’s electoral votes to much, much less.
Two items: First of all, while the winner-takes-all approach is deeply flawed, changing this must be done across the board, not state by state.
Secondly, if a proportional approach is taken, it must be done as a percentage of the *votes*, not based on winner-take-all within each congressional district, which is what’s happening here.
It’s very very insidious and nasty. This way of approaching it is a very bad idea.
Al the Spook arriving a bit early tonight, hello all firepups!
Two points from the previous thread and one about this one:
a) In regards to this thread, would a court challenge stop it? Other states have done this but have they been successfully challenged to SCOTUS?
b) In regards to the assassination of JFK, I was in college that day at SMU, heard about it from the professor who was lecturing the class, apparently he had just heard it on the radio. My mom was at a major music and instrument retailer downtown during the motorcade and saw him through the window less than a minute before he was killed. Prior to his arrival, the dallas newspapers (it had two then, Morning News and Times Herald) outdid each other in vitriolic, hateful articles about the man. My dad, not a man prone to approving of violence, said the day before that if Kennedy did choose to come, he’d be wise to have the bulletproof dome up because all the hatred in the air might just be catching. (Remember this was 1963. no climate of political violence yet.) Once JFK was killed and Oswald apprehended, everything seemed to calm down but those of us in the city who knew anything about how dallas police worked found the killing of the cop by Oswald ridiculous; that was the first false note. Everything else is pretty much public record.
When I was working in DC prior to moving to Denver, I was at a bar once with a major in the special operations forces (forget what it was called then) and he was bragging about how his unit had held the major telephone exchange for Washington DC under guard for three hours that night to prevent a “commie takeover”. I did some asking around and sure enough there was a telephone outage for long distance that night in DC. The strange thing was, the takeover happened TEN MINUTES after JFK was shot. This to me indicates serious advance planning. make of it what you will.
c) On the requirement to respond to aclu, why Bushco WON’T blow it off: This court controls FISA and the secret intelligence system. If chimpy pisses them off, they can do him all sorts of harm. And from what is coming out, they seem to want to.
Moral of the Day: Ruling by the sword and fear works fine until your arm gets tired. Then the people around you stop being afraid, and they no longer have any reason to let you live.
althespook @ 29
And,you’ve taught them to use the sword and fear in return. What goes around truly comes around.
Elections are so old world order. Some neo-con activists think we should have a “President-for life” and even better, “ruler of the world”. Philip Atkinson, neo-con, wants Kommander Guy to copy Julius CaesarGuy, by getting into unnecessary wars, and destroying democracy at the same time. Then KG can become ruler of the world, just as Augustus CaesarGuy did.
At first, I thought “Conquering the Drawbacks of Democracy” by Philip Atkinson was a snarky, satire of an extra nutty neo-con. Actually, Atkinson is a genuine neo-con lunatic, and Family Security Matters is a genuine neo-con lunatic organization. It is part of the Center for Security Progress, a major Wing Nut “think tank”. Richard Scaife helps fund this cabal of chickenhawks. Members include Cheney, Feith, Perle, Woolsey, Elliot Abrams, and so on. Atkinson is some sort of neo-con historian, and he seems quite delusional. His posting was removed rather quickly, but was google cached.
________________________
The wisest course would have been for President Bush to use his nuclear weapons to slaughter Iraqis until they complied with his demands, or until they were all dead…The simple truth that modern weapons now mean a nation must practice genocide or commit suicide. Israel provides the perfect example…
By elevating popular fancy over truth, Democracy is clearly an enemy of not just truth, but duty and justice, which makes it the worst form of government. President Bush must overcome not just the situation in Iraq, but democratic government…
If President Bush copied Julius Caesar by ordering his army to empty Iraq of Arabs and repopulate the country with Americans, he would achieve immediate results: popularity with his military; enrichment of America by converting an Arabian Iraq into an American Iraq (therefore turning it from a liability to an asset); and boost American prestiege while terrifying American enemies…
President Bush can fail in his duty to himself, his country, and his God, by becoming “ex-president” Bush or he can become “President-for-Life” Bush: the conqueror of Iraq, who brings sense to the Congress and sanity to the Supreme Court. Then who would be able to stop Bush from emulating Augustus Caesar and becoming ruler of the world?
GSD at 24
What are your predictions 20 years from now:
Will a repub or a dem be president?
Will this country be at war?
Will China threaten the world environment?
Will there be a cultural civil war in the U.S.?
Will GWB look good?
My answers to each question: yes
PB (peanut butter) @ 28
Yeah, that’s why I wanted to push the self-importance angle. It’s one thing to say, “Yes, proportional allotment is so much more fair,” and another to say, “Yes, I want my state to be just another minor state in the election.”
Technicolouryawn @ 25
Ha!
PB (peanut butter) @ 30
That sword is double-edged…!!! ;-)
CTuttle @ 35
He who lives by the sword dies by the sword…
PB (peanut butter) @ 36
Well… Sword of.
Technicolouryawn @ 25
Don’t lets forget that Darrell Issa bankrolled the recall of Gray Davis thinking he could become governor…hee hee! Whatever happened to Gray? He could take a house seat maybe.
Loo Hoo. @ 38
The same CA-GOP law firm was involved in that too…
Diebold’s (voting machines) HQ is in North Canton, Ohio. Ken Blackwell- during 04 elections of Ohio, too.
Eli @ 37
Well maybe if you fore-sword violence, I dunno…
Loo Hoo. @ 38
Hard to say. He’s got a website out there but it looks fairly non committal.
althespook @ 29
OK, but it was 10:30 AM in DC when he was shot. Announced just before we went out to sports, for those of us in 6th grade at GDS (in DC).
Frank33 said “President Bush can fail in his duty to himself, his country, and his God, by becoming “ex-president” Bush or he can become “President-for-Life” Bush: the conqueror of Iraq.”
The curtain’s father?
PB (peanut butter) @ 41
I’m sure we’ll get it sworded out eventually.
What up, Doggs?
So what’s to stop some loony Oklahoma-type state declaring that all electoral votes go to the Republican? Am I missing something here?
PB (peanut butter) @ 41
I think Eli is on the fence myself.
PeteCO @ 46
Their sense of fair play and respect for the law, of course.
Shit.
Eureka Springs @ 47
It epees to be flexible.
Hmmmmm.
http://library.christchurch.or…..23Nov1963/
“Bob Cotton also explains that every newspaper has a large store of biographical material and says that Lee Harvey Oswald was not a stranger to the media. Information on him would have been readily available in US newspapers and media offices and would have been sent out quickly. In 1959 there had been much coverage in newspapers about young men defecting to the Soviet Union and Oswald’s defection had been covered in detail in The Washington Post, The Washington Evening Star and The New York Times. Again it was widely reported when Oswald, now with a Russian wife and child, returned to the United States in 1962. The portrait of him in the Star had appeared in The Fort Worth Press on 16 November 1963.”
Jonathan @ 32
I am nawt GSDee. I am dee Guvanah of Kaleefawnia.
I theenk George Boosh looks good now. Especially ven he is vearing his cute little crocs.
-GSD
Eli @ 48
I don’t mean to single out Oklahoma, you understand;
http://www.tax.ok.gov/plates/sp145.html
PeteCO @ 52
Ironic, from the state that got hit hardest by *homegrown* terrorism.
AP:
“Democrats would lose 20 electoral votes and very likely the presidency if California abandons the winner-take-all system while large Republican states like Florida and Texas do not,” said Steyer, who is raising money for Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton’s presidential campaign. He’s also raised funds for John Kerry’s 2004 campaign and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.
Historically, voters tend to look dubiously on initiatives—only about one in three get enacted. And the arcane subject matter—the Electoral College—is likely to be a hard sell with voters.
Loo Hoo. @ 38
Heh. Even when Gray Davis was Jerry “Governor Moonbeam” Brown’s deputy governor, he still looked like he’d been dead 2 weeks. I always liked Jerry. Too bad my old friends in Oakland say he really screwed it up as mayor.
Moral of the day: never date Linda Ronstadt.
OT From the AP via the Boston Globe. “Grand jury declines to indict Cape Cod doctor in husband’s death”
Eli @ 49
Perhaps with some rapier backpedalling…
Frank33 @ 31
Jeebus, didn’t Aaron Burr already kill that muthf*cker?
Alright everybody, can we please just wait until Punaise get’s back???
PB (peanut butter) @ 34
What time is it? PBJ time.
-GSD
GordonM @ 55
Or, on teh other hand, marry Linda Ronstadt!
LS @ 50
Any fair assessment is that Oswald didin’t, couldn’t, wouldn’t have done it.
And yet, MSM has fed the American people (including some here at FDL, I suspect) that, of course, Oswald did it.
Just one FACT: Just one of many: Within about 75 seconds of supposedly having shot John F. Kennedy, Roy Truly (the book depository supervisor) and a Dallas policeman observed Oswald casually drinnking a Coke in the second floor lunchroom of the book depository. 75 seconds after supposedly shooting at the president, hiding his rifle, and running down 4 flights of stairs, not seen on the way by 2 women going up the stairs.
GSD @ 60
My eyes!
GordonM @ 43
From the BBC report that day (via Teh Google):
“The president was alive when he was admitted, but died at 1400 local time (1900 GMT) – 35 minutes after being shot.” That’s how I remember it, right around 2 pm just as we were starting a class on organic chemistry.
Shadowstalker mentioned this yesterday re Missouri thug f*ckery..
Good PB&J, GSD. Peanut Butter, I saw yesterday that you live in the SD area. Which district?
Doesn’t Hugo Chav*z now want to be prez for life, too?
Eli @ 53
SShhhhh! Terrorists all have brown skin! And they’re not American. And they don’t believe in the Baby Jesus.
GordonM @ 59
I agree…!!!
Holy crap! Late to the party, so haven’t read the comments yet, but I’m off to sign the petitions and, yes, donate what little I can.
Back in a bit.
Oh, and hello rational people, TGIF!
IIRC, it was also Jerry Brown who first made the allegations about the Clintons wrt the Rose Law firm and Whitewater, in one of the primary debates.
That worked out well.
dunno if you intended this for everybody, but I’ll bite..
Jonathan @ 32
Will a repub or a dem be president?
Dem
Will this country be at war?
yep.. Iraq’s legacy will last at least 20 years, and we’ll have a couple more generations from there spread all over the world by then, to fight
Will China threaten the world environment?
probably, but we’ll still be a way bigger threat to it. it’s about wealth.. richer people pollute more.
Will there be a cultural civil war in the U.S.?
no. it’ll be over. we’ll have won. that demographics thing.
Will GWB look good?
worst. president. ever.
For anyone interested in the details of just what this proposal would mean for the country, here’s a report from The Center for Voting and Democracy that analyzes the effect this plan would have on an election if it were adopted nationally:
Wrong-Way Reforms for Allocating Electoral College Votes
Why would Maria Shriver and the Kennedy family not kick Ahnold’s butt all over CA???? Leverage?
dakine01 @ 10
Given that Kerry only carried 5 of our 248 counties, I’m not eager to see it in TX.
Anyone know if Herr Governor has said anything about this? Does he favor it?
I think one argument that may reasonate with even Cali rethugs is this one: we weaken the state if we allow its impact to be diluted. It’s all about Cali.
CTuttle @ 69
as one flatworm said to the other, “If you encyst…”
The petition wants a zip code. Should I enter a California one?
Eureka Springs @ 65
Just out of curiousity, what is their justification to re-draw the district in a non-census period? I mean, MO doesn’t have a Tom Delay to drive things and surely there are enough Dems in the state senate or house that could block this happening before sometime after 2010.
Just sayin’
We are rich! Mr. LS just won $30 on a $3 scratch off! Yeehaw. We can retahr.
wangdangdoodle @ 78
92028
And them Courts just keep lubbin dat White House:
http://www.thebluestate.com/20…..e-rev.html
I’m waiting for them to get a court order to reveal the manual for stealing elections. that ought to be a fun one, and I firmly believe it exists.
LS @ 80
Beer run!
Mukei @ 73
I’m totally cool with eliminating it altogether, really.
Eli, thanks for a great post, and for information BEFORE all is lost.
LoudounLib @ 83
707
althespook @ 77
*groan*
wangdangdoodle @ 78
It had a dropdown for state…
TexBetsy @ 85
seconded. we may need to put some money in on this one. hopefully dean and co will keep us apprised on that.
First, the good news:
LINK
They can’t get it on the ballot without the required signatures, and they haven’t even started yet. There’s plenty of time for Dems in CA to stop this goofy idea before it takes hold.
And they haven’t started raising money yet either, and we all know how well the republics have been doing at fundraising this cycle. Hahahahahaha!
I don’t like this ballot initiative at all, but I’m also not going to panic.
CTuttle @ 69
Hmph. OK. Seems like that pun line is bokken anyway.
*ducks*
Eli @ 88
It worked for me…!!!
LS @ 80
Okay, get hold of yourself, LS. Don’t make any immediate decisions. Put the ticket in a safety deposit box until the Texas Lottery Officials instruct you otherwise. Don’t let any financial planners get with you until you and the Mr. have had time to decide just exactly how you want to retire, what to spend the money on, and which charities you wish to endorse. Plan the name of the hospital or university ahead of time. CONTACT YOUR TAX ADVISOR.
Blub at 72
just opinions, of course
if I could bet money, i’d bet on the cultural war
aint going away, i believe
there are bunches that HATE those here on FDL
and bunches here on FDL who express contempt for those who are viewed as stoopid
althespook @ 89
If it *does* get on the ballot, I hope the Courage Campaign people (and DNC) put a *lot* of money into GOTV…
Another use for scratch-off riches? I recommend the FDL store.
Milan River @ 67
No, he just wants term limits repealed. That’s called “for life” in the MSM, but somehow they never mention Susan Collins promise.
As long as Arnie isn’t gung ho for it, I think we’ll be OK. If he is, we’re big time screwed… I guess we could always balllot initiative the OC and the Central Valley into another state :) I’d think Rohrabacher would jump at a chance to be part of a red state like Arizona.
Dakine01@79
Actually, I don’t think there are enough Dems in the state (particularly outside of KC and StLouis)to stop these sorts of shenanigans. Ike Skelton has always been elected in spite of being a Dem, not because he was a Dem.
Today’s presser in Jeff City had him denying retirement…but we’ll see. He’s 80 years old.
Blub @ 98
Nominally, the sponsor of No. 07-0032 is Californians for Equal Representation. But that’s just a letterhead—there’s no such organization. Its address is the office suite of Bell, McAndrews & Hiltachk, the law firm for the California Republican Party, and its covering letter is signed by Thomas W. Hiltachk, the firm’s managing partner and Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger’s personal lawyer for election matters.
Loo Hoo. @ 93
Hee, hee, hee.
Loo Hoo. @ 81
Thanks Loo Hoo!
althespook @ 77
Only if you accept that Christopher Hitchens is the answer to “how do you invert a brit?”
Blub @ 72
I can’t resist;
No President. Dictator.
At war? With Eurasia. Or Oceania. Or both.
China/Environment? Academic. The US will be a Cambodia Year Zero five type society, controlled by what’s left of the ultra-wealthy after a short civil war, which was won by Blackwater mercenaries, who learned all they needed to know in Iraq.
Cultural civil war? See above.
GWB? Founding Father.
Hope I die before I get old……
Eli @ 100
Ugh. if that info is correct, we ARE screwed. I guess we do need to fight this one bigtime.
TheOtherWA @ 90
getting the signatures is often a great big ordeal here… it’s a lot of signatures – early education about NOT TO SIGN would be good…
Bush has a “vulnerability”. He doesn’t like it if you criticize the way he looks…gets his knickers in a twist. I don’t have the link, but it’s all over the place.
Eli @ 88
D’oh! I only hit the *required fields.
:)
LS @ 107
You mean, a round of “You’re ugly and your mother wears army boots” coulda stopped us from going to war??
Just fyi, 94117 is Haight Ashbury zip code.. a perfect protest zip, imo…and it lies in Speaker Pelosis district. *s*
Loo Hoo. @ 66
Mmm, I don’t live IN SD…I’m there quite frequently, several times a week. I’m actually OC resident.
GordonM @ 103
Crissie Hitchie isn’t a brit. England merely had the great misfortune to be where he was spawned and whelped (raised only applies to sapient life forms). It did allow him to don the protective camoflague of a loathsome pseudo-english accent, but don’t be fooled. He’s no more a brit than Terry Addams of Sein Fein is.
LS @ 107
He also hates cellphones. About a year or so ago, I suggested that we should have people infiltrate his public appearances with cellphones (and a partner to call the number repeatedly), preferably ones with annoying ringtones.
End result: Bush either has a public hissy fit, or the Secret Service starts patting people down and confiscating cellphones. He looks like Queeg either way.
I resemble that… (snort) This is a truly, truly, truly dreadful idea. Couple it with touchscreen voting, and there’s Karl Rove’s permanent Republican majority. Presto!
Buy yer own danged purple hearts!!!
http://www.crooksandliars.com/…..le-hearts/
LS @ 107
Here’s one
Marion in Savannah @ 114
Fortunately Bowen’s got the touchscreening reigned back.
Technicolouryawn @ 25
It was my absolute privilege to vote for removal of Gray Davis as governor. He was a Democrat George Bush.
The Governator? He may be the best living Republican in office, which means he spends a lot of his time fighting with his own party’s wingnuts.
CA at the state level has a lot of hacks who play musical chairs with statewide office, and there were not a lot of inspired choices last time around.
althespook @ 112
Yeah, he announced his American citizenship on The Daily Show, but it would’ve spoiled my pun to acknowledge it.
On the Bush as Fashion Victim bit:
Linky.
you have to scroll down a bit, but you can also get some nice jenna bush marriage dishing on the way. (Here is the really good stuff, from wonkette of course.)
albert fall @ 118
Indeed. I was not about to vote for Bustamante among other things. Bleh.
Giving credit where credit is due, I think this is an absolutely brilliant political move. The Dems should have been calling for abolition of the Electoral College right after the 2000 “election”. Barring that, they should have proposed a Constitutional amendment right after they came to power in 2006 to abolish the damn thing. They did neither of these things. Now they’re in danger of being clobbered by the Electoral College AGAIN. The reason the California referendum sounds reasonable is because it IS reasonable. It strikes at the fact that the Electoral College is a shitty way to pick a President. Is it also a naked power grab? Absolutely. But it wouldn’t have been possible if the Dems had done their damn jobs and tried to abolish the Electoral College in the first place.
Write Arnie to ask him not to support this and how bad this’ll be for the state, and we need to get all our friends to as well. He’s actually pretty good at bending to public outrage. Whatever else he is, he’s no shrub.. or Giuliani.
Eureka Springs @ 110
Hmmmm. I suspect that’s 92207, ES.
FunnyD
Hope I die before I get old…
Frank Probst @ 122
Not *quite*! If it were based on population percentage then it would be reasonable. But it’s based on winner take all at the (R. gerrymandered) congressional districts.
I’m not sure what it would take to get rid of the Electoral College, frankly. That’s something that would have to be done all at once across all the states, and I can’t see that happening.
albert fall @ 118
This is a little-known, yet fascinating pre-recall debate/interview.
Eli @ 113
Ha! Today, Melanie Morgan referred to the TSP as “Wireless Wiretapping Program” on Tweety’s show…interesting choice of words. It would not surprise me that she would be in the know. He probably knows that cell phones are “chipped”…they can “listen in” on conversations without being turned on…or something. The technology is there. I’ll bet that’s their damned “advanced technology” spying deal.
LS @ 107
I like to challenge the cowboy lovers to come up with a picture of him on a horse.
Diva, Thanks *blush* So many zips in my history and so little ram.
althespook @ 120
The nerve that was touched is not a fashion nerve, it’s an authenticity nerve.
I can’t imagine why; Dubya is the most genuine person I’ve ever seen.
LoudounLib @ 116
wangdangdoodle @ 125
Tell that to these individuals…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zqfFrCUrEbY
wangdangdoodle @ 128
He does not speak equus. Or does he?
OK:
Jonathan @ 32
The 2 major parties will not resemble today’s partys.
Not aggressively – either reformed or too broke.
Of course, but mainly because of population. Assuming we can’t turn it around technologically, it will be up to China.
No, it will be over. We will either be a 3rd world country, or we will have joined the Scandanavian soci*l*stic democracies.
Not.even.for.one.moment.
Frank Probst says
“It strikes at the fact that the Electoral College is a shitty way to pick a President.”
Which is why we’re moving to the hereditary principal. Bush 1st, Clinton 1st, Bush 2nd, Clinton 2nd, Little Brown Bush 3rd, Chelsea Clinton 3rd, Jenna Bush Rove the 4th, etc, etc…
Let us inform our debate about the Electoral Collage with a few facts:
1) The Wikipedia entry. (Nice piccies!)
2) Since it’s a constitution thing (article 2 and ammendment 12) the EC will have to be removed or altered by same. :(:(:( Unfortunately, the con bits DON’T specify how a state’s electors are doled out (that’s state law as we are seeing) but there are interactions with other ammendments (like the ones outlawing discrimination and ensuring voting rights) as well as overarching federal statues (which could come into play in court cases against this ammendment).
CTuttle @ 132
Oh yeah, that’s closer to mine. *g*
Is Susan Collins the one I get ADD from listening to? Or is that Chimpy? Or Lieberman?
One really drifts off and can’t keep track of all three of their language content for various reasons. Nails. On. Blackboard.
Eureka Springs @ 129
No worries, dear. I’m originally from 94086/94087 myself.
Just wanted anyone who wants to sign as a HaightAshburian to do so and not be an accidental Little Rock, Arkansan!
FunnyD
althespook @ 136
The Constitutional thing is a problem. Since it advantages the smaller states and the swing states, I don’t see any way two get 38 states to ratify it.
There is a backdoor that some states are working on, where they pledge their electoral votes to the winner of the popular vote… once the total number of electoral votes so pledged equals or exceeds 270.
wangdangdoodle @ 128
Conway Twitty, prophet
LS @ 133
Is jack-ass close enough?
Hee-haw!
no, the shrub is afraid of horses…
We could always use, 90210.
IMO….Ahnold is going to support this and Maria isn’t going to fight it. Remember, we’re talking Rove, here. Blackmail and intimidation are his m.o. And they’ve been spying for years so who knows what they know
Since we know that Arnold has a few skeletons and that the repubs are desperate, I think the repubs will stop at nothing to get this passed. It’s their only hope.
So, whose responsibility would it be to counter this? Schumer’s? Dean’s? Harold Ford’s????? Who exactly should be proposing to do the same thing in a red state? I’d hate to put all of our eggs in one basket and hope it gets defeated.
OldCoastie @ 143
He can’t differentiate from cows, per Laura.
oddmommy @ 141
Around these parts, he’s what’s known as a Rexall Cowboy.
OldCoastie @ 143
He has reason. I’ve heard comments on the horse lists (my granddaughter is in her horse phase…) that the last time he tried to ride one it threw him and he darn near died, and there is reason to believe it was deliberate…on the part of the horse!
From LS’s WaPo:
Her son, following tradition, first asked the president for permission to marry his daughter. “Anybody raised in this family follows the rules,” she said.
What century is this again? When you were 25 did you want someone who “followed the rules?”
wangdangdoodle @ 147
Bush, not Conway!!
Just to clarify…
Angels beat Red Sox!! woo-hoo!
(sorry Boston fans)
solai @ 145
Got a point there. I read a couple of years ago that Rove was in cahoots with Ahhhhnold. There could be more madness to this method than we even know….so what else is new?
Loo Hoo. @ 149
See the wonkette posting. This is a shotgun wedding, and it is highly unlikely that rove-boy is the father of this kid. Remember, abstinence rules are for the PROLES, not the MASTERS…
How many here think things will be better 4 years from now?
Jonathan @ 154
me. and i have good reason to do so. stay tuned.
althespook @ 153
Ew. Just… ew.
althespook @ 153
Veddy interestink!! And totally believable, by the way.
LS @ 144
Waxman’s district!
Jonathan @ 154
I have got to hang on to that hope.
waves at oddmommy How was the Old Ebbitt?
althespook @ 153
Oh stop it! lol
wangdangdoodle @ 137
That kicks ass.
Milan River @ 138
Susan Collins’ voice (and particularly her laugh) are definitely nails on blackboard material. I was astounded when she first got elected. I think it was mostly because she was Bill Cohen’s protege, and he (at the time) was Clinton’s SecDef.
wangdangdoodle @ 147
He’s a Drug Store Truck Drivin’ Man.
althespook @ 155
I think we’re (the people of the U.S.) on a downhill slide.
Loo Hoo. @ 149
I rolled my eyes so much at that they fell out and I’ve been searching for them for the last ten minutes.
*rolls ey– wait, no!!*
PB, you funny!
wangdangdoodle @ 157
Although it has had its ups and downs (and ins and outs) since AM Cox left, Wonkette is actually rather good in its deliberately sleazy way. The problem is, some muckety mucks are trash with money and or power; when they get the chance, they revert to scumbag behvior while wearing the duxes and designer gowns. Wonkette is feeding largely off that and its legions of loyal fans from the days of the Washingtonienne (best line I’ve ever heard about Republican Romance!)
And BushCo is convinced they’ve won the game and aren’t even TRYING to hide their behavior any more. One more reason for Rove, Snow and others to bail now.
PB (peanut butter) @ 165
“ROFLFME”?
Jonathan @ 164
Don’t buy it. Thinking that way plays into the hands of Rove and his allies. They are a pimple, nothing more. And we are going to squeeze them DRY, folks!
Eli @ 168
That’s it!
althespook @ 169
The pusident?
Eli @ 171
With his acne-eyed policies?
dakine01 @ 163
Makes me think of the rednecks in “Easy Rider”, who were real, according to the dvd commentary. What’s scary is that they’re still out there.
dakine01 @ 163
I LUV them!!!
PB (peanut butter) @ 172
I was thinking more of acneo-cons.
althespook @ 169
Ewww. Remember those old Sc*pe commercials. A few gifts of Sc*pe and Clearas*l may erode the ego.
Eli — thanks for putting this so eloquently. I had not thought of casting it this way:
“Don’t Georgiafie California! !”
even worse:
“Don’t Jerseyfie California! !”
(…That government of the pimple, by the pimple, and for the pimple, shall not perish from the earth…)
Eli @ 175
lol
Jonathan @ 164
I think I’ll stay tuned to Al. Otherwise, I might as well just suck a tail pipe.
Eli @ 175
Taxes are for the little pimples?
Eli @ 178
My work goeth forth, far beyond my knowing…
(I’m still waiting for someone to ask me about the best summary of republican romance line…)
Thanks, Teddy! I figured an appeal to pride would work better than an appeal to decency and fair play.
Um, no offense intended – that’s more of a commentary on America than California.
Eli @ 178
Drat, beat me to it…
althespook @ 182
????
PB (peanut butter) @ 181
That’s what H&R Blackhead is for.
LS @ 185
Consider that an ask. Speak, spook!
wangdangdoodle @ 180
I’m not suggesting the tailpipe.
Rather, an appreciation of what it is to live in the dark age following a failed great society.
Eli @ 168
Bookmark it, folks. Invented right here on FDL by Eli!!
PeteCO @ 173
Most anybody who grew up in or spent a lot of time in the south in the late ’60s/early ’70s knew those guys in “Easy Rider” Or they experienced the situations Bob Seger sang about in Turn the Page. I know I drank with some of ‘em back home when no one else was around.
Eli @ 187
And top it all off with a rash dive into war!
Jonathan @ 188
No matter what happens, we will not fail. We will adjust and prevail.
wangdangdoodle @ 128
I’d like some Saudi head of state to give him an Arabian horse and demand that they go riding. Just to see him sweat and heh heh and do anything to get out of it.
PB (peanut butter) @ 191
Operation Pock & Awe.
wangdangdoodle @ 180
I’m not just trying to buck you up.
If one of my old time friends is right (and she usually is), somebody MAJOR has flipped as part of the Carol Lam investigation involving Duke Cunningham, and it goes all the way to rove and cheney. And is giving testimony and evidence. We may be the first to see a sitting Veep indicted in office. And possibly a Peep, but I’ll take getting cheney for now.
I can’t give any more details for now, because I gave my word. but the minute she lets me, i’m doing a ravings post to end all ravings posts.
Stay tuned, like I said…
althespook @ 169
I’m with
the old fartAl on this one – the wave has broken and we’re getting splashed, but it has no strength left. A handful of loyalists left in the gov’t, and the more clued in of them (Rove, Snow) are getting out. No one applying for the open jobs. Rove’s infamous “base” completely shattered, “none of the above” outpolling all the others on the Republican side, generic Dem outpolling generic Repub by nearly 20 points… The bluster you see from BushCo right now is all aimed at getting them out of office the normal way. They know they’ve lost, they’re just delaying admitting it publicly.LS @ 185
From the Washingtonienne’s Blog “Girls, any man who tries to f*ck you in the *ss without buying you five or six drinks first does not love you.”
Words to live by.
althespook @ 195
I dunno, man. *Abramoff* flipped, and that hasn’t really gone anywhere.
I guess it depends on the prosecutor.
Loo Hoo. @ 149
Power trip, sounds like.
Margot @ 193
I’d pay-per-view for that!
Phoenix woman’s got Boxer’s view on this: linky
althespook @ 182
Well?
althespook @ 195
That MAJOR somebody knows to stay away from samll planes, right?
Eli @ 195
So that we can infect them ALL with Democracy ™!!
Margot @ 193
Thank you Margot, you are speaking my horse language there! It is precisely that which is at the core of his strategic mistake with the tribes of the Middle East. They are do not relate to bicycles. Amusing.
Eli @ 198
I disagree. It went LOTS of where….linky.
But cunningham is way different. Dusty Foggo, for example, is involved and he is the weak link that may end up getting Cheney (no new news there, so don’t say I said otherwise)….cunningham is DEFENSE CONTRACTORS, and we all know Darth cheney never met a defense contractor he didn’t love…
dakine01 @ 190
I’ve met a few here in CO in the last dozen or so years.
Loo Hoo. @ 202
Loo Hoo see #197
althespook @ 206
It is still going…
I think an effective and persuasive argument against it is that this initiative will weaken CA voter clout unless the plan is adopted nationally. CA voters felt frustrated for years by being the last state to vote in the primaries, and most people lost interest, at least in terms of national electons. So the ‘don’t be a sucker’ argument may have real traction. Also, if this comes up in the next couple of election cycles, just truthfully labeling it as a ‘GOP scam to dilute your vote’ or ‘walking dead Bush zombie election stealing scheme’ or ‘political nutcase political welfare act’ will also be very helpful in getting it defeated.
The supporters may be counting on confusion with other reform campaigns that explicitly sate the apportionment won’t be adopted unless a certin number of other states. So need to keep the distinction clear.
I hope there is big push back on this, and it goes down. The CA GOP is a group of real dead enders, who are just as nutcase as the neocons and Bushites. They are just tolerating Arnold, since he is only thing that gives them a shred of credibility.
Another hope is that the CA GOP really get behind it, since they are true nutcase incompetents. If some more competent and moderate sounding conservative front group runs the campaign and markets it as some kind of goo-goo reform, it may be dangerous.
The CA GOP state Senate caucus is holding up the budget for no particular reason, after Arnold, GOP Assembly and Dem Assembly and Senate caucuses thought it was fine. I heard the GOP Senate leader defending the move by sternly announcing over and over that the budget was ‘half baked.’ That is all I understand about their position. They have no proposal for a basis of negotiation at all that I know of, and practically boycotted the attempts at a settlement before the summer recess. It is so senseless, and they are being so turdish about it, that I can only imagine it is an election ploy for their reactionary base in their home distrcts. As far as I know it is a solid, if quite skimpy, budget on the merits.
Loo Hoo. @ 202
see my @197. That simple line brought down a whole section of the Rethug elite at the time…
althespook @ 182
Consider yourself asked, oh ectoplasmic one!
FunnyD
althespook @ 206
I’m not seeing a lot of congresscritters in there. Ney, DeLay, probably Don Young, and that’s it.
Funnydiva2002 @ 212
197, 197, 197….
Eli @ 195
A desperate plea is made for Punaise’s presence…!!! ;-)
Eli @ 213
DeLay alone was worth it. Remember, when he went down is when the Rethug machinery started to come apart. They didn’t call him The Hammer for nothing.
althespook @ 195
Al, you’ve teased us before….
And when do you think this flip might take place? Does it have anything to do with Leahy? And will we hear it from you before we read it in the WSJ?
Republican pick up line:
Hi! Want to trash a country?
The Blog Madam has returned. This time as a proud mama. This is my son’s very first blog post EVER!
Jonathan @ 188
Ah, now that’s different. Yes, the economy is almost certainly irretrievably damaged. We’re effectively broke. There are 2 ways in which that’s good: it wakes people up (and it is only the economy which wakes most Americans up), and it forever puts to rest this idiotic “superpower” notion.
But all that’s been inevitable since Reagan sold out the middle class 20 years ago. It does not necessarily mean a dark age. It just means the middle class has to wake up and stop voting against their own interests.
wesgpc @ 210
That all sounds good to me. Again, though – they’ll have pretty much *all* the Republican vote, and they just need to pick off enough clueless Dems and Independents to get to 50.1%.
If Lieberman could do it…
Democratic pick up line:
Hi! It really sucks, doesn’t it?
CTuttle @ 215
Yeah, and as if they don’t have internets in France… come on, bedbug. Give it up for your friends!
demi @ 217
yes i have, and i apologize for it. I haven’t done this sort of thing in many years, so I’m a bit rusty at it. But I make a conscious effort not to do it now.
All I know is that a something big has happened that hits both rove and cheney and could and may result in criminal indictments for rove and cheney, and this it involves cunningham. I SUSPECT it is a major DOD civilian grade who got burned and has copped a plea deal but I don’t KNOW that. The only specifics must, as I said, say secret for now.
And no, it won’t be leahy. It will be the people doing the Cunningham prosecutions, whoever they are.
As to whether I get to scoop the WSJ, we’ll see. I would not count on it, tho.
TexBetsy @ 220
Betsy, you sure know how to raise ‘em!
GordonM @ 197
A’runnin’ outha clock….!!! Little, do they realize the Statues hasn’t run out by their departure…!!! Karma is such a B*tch!!! *g*
althespook @ 196
Wow, what a tease! You’re not pulling a WaPo “unnamed sources” on “unnamed parties” are you? Sounds like the real deal. I can’t wait for you to spill the beans.
But good on ya for keeping your word. ;)
I smell a zed coming up, watch for the spin of refresh….
PB (peanut butter) @ 205
Which candidates have an unblemished voting record?
Jonathan’s pick up line:
Hi! Want to work together to make better tomorrow?
A sure loser.
TexBetsy @ 219
Nicely done. You should be proud!
LS @ 228
I’m a’waiting the dive…!!! *g*
LS @ 229
Nope, we still have time for a potty break, a beer run and a smoke.
:)
do-si-do @ 229
Honestly, I think they’ve all been scarred for life…just some more so than others.
TexBetsy @ 220
Ooh, another blogger is born! Congrats!
LS,
I once rode a horse that the only way you could get it to go was to say, “Go go go for Falstaff!” LOL
Boy that was fun.
Lovely mods, why is my #231 awaiting moderation? I don’t see any keywords or anything :-(
PB (peanut butter) @ 233
Good thing FDL is so…ProActiv!
Eli says
That all sounds good to me. Again, though – they’ll have pretty much *all* the Republican vote, and they just need to pick off enough clueless Dems and Independents to get to 50.1%.
If Lieberman could do it…
Which is what worries me about this weeks announcement that Rove has been appointed the RNC’s Ratfucker General;
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ratfucking
do-si-do @ 226
I was kinda random, actually. I was having a really good day today and make my usual friday call to my friend to allow him to vent about the DOD jungle to someone safe, and he agreed it was a REALLY good day and proceeded to tell me why. After he finished, I said “Should you have told me that?” He said, “No but I HAD to tell someone!” and made me promise not to divulge specifics. (I might add that if you think we folk here at the Lake hate chimpy and darth, you should see what the professional military and civilian DOD folk think. They have to clean up after that dynamic duo every day!)
And I am NOT an old fart. I am an aged to perfection flatulation. So there.
How come there was no news dump? Just unexpected hearings from Leahy? We need more raw meat!
The next 4 years:
We all will have to step up to the plate in our own way in the next four years to let our Critters know to undo the B*sh tangles and ‘creative laws’. Hopefully a Dem is in WH. Hopefully there will be more Dems in the House and Senate. That will help the process, but will do little about the occupation/war debt from George B*sh and Dick Dick, the China debt, the loathing of the US from the rest of the world thanks to Chimpy and Dick Dick, the unnecessary depletion of our military, and the continued suffering and altered hard lives of the thousands of injured Bush-Iraqi vets and their families. I hope these vets will be front and center for America to help, and to remember. Haliburton should build lots of vet centers- 2% of war profits.
do-si-do @ 235
It spurs us on to crater things.
wangdangdoodle @ 232
In that Order…??? *g* *kaff* *kaff*
Margot @ 234
That’s funny. I have a horse that I was teaching a student on, and he refused to take even one step for an hour…I said to the student..just ride over to the next spot over there…nothin’…the rider was paralyzed…the horse was basically stuck, so it seemed…turned out the student had just been fired 2 hours before the lesson and he just found out his wife was pregnant…true story…he was paralyzed
do-si-do @ 236
Zits is why we have such a great community here…
Thanks, Al. And, apology accepted.
I’ve been sayin’ to the Mister, a lot of people have been screwed and somewhere, sometime, someones gonna fight back with some bean spillin’.
And, I’ve also been seriously trying to figure out the Real Reason for Mr. Rove’s quit.
Oh, please, please, please, let it happen.
But, I’m patient. I’ll wait.
And, I agree, you are a good man to keep your word. Must be burning a whole in your pocket though. yeah?
wesgpc @ 211
Exactly. There’s no point in pushing back the primaries if you weaken your state’s clout this way.
LS @ 242
My boss can’t ride horses period. They react to him like he was a mountain lion or something. I’ve seen it happen. He’s a nice guy and doesn’t seem to have anything against horses, but after two failed attempts to get him to go riding my wife and I gave up. Weird.
Phoenix Woman @ 246
And it’s a short, effective meme that will make sense to the most people.
demi @ 244
You have no idea. oohhhhh ghod if its true…(I mean if it happens. my friend could be telling perfect truth and nothing may happen. lots of slips between the cup and lip, eh?
Phoenix Woman @ 246
Considering the first primary/caucus? Could occur around the holidays of ‘07!!! ;-)
How would having a national primary day affect the nomination process? Better chances for non-mainstream candidates, or not?
CTuttle @ 244
priorities
New thread upstairs.
althespook @ 247
Here’s my zen theory..the best riding is not riding (that is from the human point-of-view). If you feel compelled to mount a horse, it is all about your ego. There is nothing about a horse that requires it to be ridden. Some horses like to be ridden and love to “take a spin”..otherwise, quite honestly, they like to eat all day and be with their buddies, and enjoy room service.
Completely off topic, but the weekly Media Matters for America e-mail had some very nice things to say about FDL at the end:
http://mgpaquin.wordpress.com/…..ly-update/
Thought I’d let you know.
OK, come on upstairs
Eli @ 244
It spurs pus on to crater things?
Ew. Sorry, but I did wait until everyone headed upstairs…
222 Eli says: August 17th, 2007 at 7:46 pm:
Re: If Lieberman could…
Why so glum? The very popular Arnold’s set of fake reform initiatives got so slammed, it at least turned him the general direction of the light, even if only partially and when watched very carefully. But he is sane, and actually will settle for getting things done, unlike 99.9% of the CA GOP politicians. We can beat them again. But point is, even Arnold’s stamp of approval, which I don’t think is on it yet, is no guarantee.
CA voters have seen through the corporate and bigshot GOP front group astro turf initiative referendum scam, and they have been difficult to pass recently. In fact, a recent corporate ploy when they see a decent intiative on the ballot that the voters are taking a liking to, is to pay gobs of money to put a confusing decoy on the ballot. Usually what happens is the voters get confused and decide the safest thing is to dump them both.
This proposal is not guaranteed to pass at all. And we will be in luck of the CA GOP is at the helm of this effort, since they are true losers.
But you are right it is dangerous and must be opposed vigorously.
wesgpc @ 261
You know the turf, I don’t. Hopefully you’re right about your voters being a bit more skeptical and cynical than CT’s…
Eli @ 84
Indeed. That’s nearly what their preferred National Popular Vote plan does:
This seems a reasonable expedient, given the difficulty of eliminating the electoral college outright. To do that would require a constitutional amendment, the proposal for which would probably never make it through Congress, given Republicans’ (in particular) strong desire to maintain a system they have a chance at successfully gaming. And the only alternative to the congressional route would be to get the states to call a constitutional convention, and God help us if that ever happened. The only precedent we have for that is 1787 when the convention threw its limited mandate out the window, scrapped the existing government and made a new one from scratch. I wouldn’t trust either party with their hands on something that powerful. The Republicans are too power-crazed authoritarian to do the right thing, and the Democrats are … well … as we’ve seen.
Mukei @ 263
Yes, I mentioned that in the comments here somewhere, and wrote about it on my own blog a while back. I like the idea a lot, and it may be the only way to bypass the EC.
This is a great plan… I heard a great talk about this on C-Span yesterday. It’s pure genius. I also heard several arguments that the small-state advantage is totally washed out by the elector distribution as of today. Although North and South Dakota get three each, it still doesn’t amount to anything against all-or-nothing California and New York. 99% of the the presidential campaign money goes to 16 states. I really like this plan.
CA would only be as influential as how far it could possibly swing either way. It would not be worth the net 15 votes, just the couple votes that would actually be at play.
Jonathan @ 32
Your first question is not a yes or no question.
If China is a threat to the world twenty years from now…what did GWB do to dampen THAT threat? Recall that he has allowed the Chinese to invest billions in American financial assets, done nothing to slow the foreign debt with China, and his own family is heavily invested in Chinese corporations…do a bit of research on brothers Neil and Marvin, and Uncle Preston. Recall his wonderful face-down of the Chinese after they took down the US spy-plane…how the Chinese dismantled and studied its technology for months. And how Bush hads basically had to go to the Chinese to negotiate with North Korea.
There is already a “cultural civil war” in the US…and Bush has used this rather than unify the American people to be more tolerant of “freedom”. “They hate us for our freedoms” so he does everything he can to remove those freedoms. Young people today are far more tolerant of our differences…so the extremists on the right-wing will have to lord over the vast majority…those people will continue to regard Bush as something of a demi-God that spoke with “Jesus”.
And if there is a “civil war” then it will be by THAT MINORITY against the majority…and unless we are an unDemocratic society…then the right-wing zealots will be involved in an UnConstitutional INSURRECTION. Yes! Look up INSURRECTION in the Constitution…and find out what happens.
Eli @ 39
And recall that both Arnold and Mayor Riordan were called up to Cheney’s closed meetings on the “Energy Strategy” just prior to the Energy Brokers from Texas (Enron, Pioneer, etc.) conspiring to shift energy from California at the Summer peak.
Just what was Arnold doing chatting secretly with Cheney…and why won’t he discuss this?
Seems pretty clear they were actually discussing how they were going to recall Davis…USING the deregulated Energy Brokers creating a State of Emergency in California.
ONE MORE reason Cheney refuses to reveal his records of the Energy Policy meetings.
GordonM @ 55
Jackson Brown is still lookin’ pretty good!
About the time I arrived in New Zealand they voted in a radical idea: proportional representation. It kept the party that won with 51% of the vote from claiming 100% of the victory. Karl Rove would not like New Zealand. The California ballot iniative is right on if, AND ONLY IF, it’s done that way for every state. Nothing wrong with California having the same clout as Georgia, as long as Georgia has the same clout as California. Eh, mate?
the people of california aren’t quite a stupid as this. The state that told their legislature what to do on numerous occasions can’t be compared to the states in this country that don’t even allow the elective voting process. there are states that have the initiative process, and you will find that their voters are a lot more involved with the elective process than to allow such bullshit to be forced down their throats
kansas or mississippi sure, the people are told what to do. but the idea that this is going to happen in a blue state that has seen the effects of what they have voted for? not a chance in hell
It must not pass, but if it does, it WILL spend the end of the electoral college. Why? Because it will virtually assure that so long as there is an electoral college, the popular vote will be VERY much out of sinc with the electoral vote. It will mean a GOPer president getting elected with a much worse popular vote spread vs his/her rival than between Bush/Gore. Can you imagine how long the people would allow the electoral college to remain if each time there is an election the Dem wins by 100,000s of votes in the popular vote but keeps losing substantially in the electoral? No WAY that lasts more than one or two election cycles at best.
Easiest and most democratic solution: the candidate with the most votes wins the election.