One good reason to scrap the Electoral College!
The arrogance and incompetence of the elitist gang running our Congress has finally brought the American public to the verge of a mild revolution. With luck, we’ll wake up next November 4th to discover not a single incumbent has been returned to office!
However, even if that dream were to come true, there exists the terrifying prospect those same defeated incumbents could have a “parting shot”, robbing us of the power of the ballot box.
Assume for a moment George Bush and Bill Clinton are the respective Republican and Democratic nominees. They’ll immediately be joined on ballots in fifty states and the District of Columbia by Andre Marrou, the Libertarian Party candidate … whom we hope will finally be treated as a legitimate candidate with a responsible message and thus an “equal” during the campaign by the national media.
Meantime, it’s not inconceivable the deep philosophical rift between Jerry Brown and his primary antagonist, Governor Clinton, could become so bitter that the former Governor of California is persuaded to run as an independent. Rounding out the field, we are likely to see the name of H. Ross Perot, who will become an active candidate by around the first of April, running as an independent.
With the documented disenchantment of voters over the choices they have had during the primary season, many may decide to boycott the ballot box or support one of the three other major candidates.
If so, it is not beyond the realm of possibility none of the five candidates may be able to win enough states, and thus sufficient electoral votes to actually be elected president.
If the subsequent backroom “wheeling and dealing” is unable to break this log jam, the outgoing House or Representatives … the same crowd that can’t balance their own or the nation’s books, exempts itself from social and safety regulations they so glibly impose on the rest of society, and then shower themselves with perks and retirement plans the rest of us can only dream of … will have the Constitutional authority and obligation to elect our next president; with each state having a single vote.
As the House delegations of most states are dominated by Democrats, Bush, Marrou and Perot are not likely to be elected. However, after the anti-beltway rhetoric and inevitable campaign dirt settles, it’s possible neither Brown nor Clinton will be favorites with these angry Washington insiders.
“We the people” could then find our country being run by a president who may not have even run for the job and never had to face the harsh scrutiny of a presidential campaign.
