All purpose news and politics thread part VI: This Is Not The Time For Posing

[Mister Mets]

Slightly unrelated. Vox did a video on the Electoral College. It's a basic 101 explainer thing, but one thing that struck me is that Vox mentioned that in 2016, 4 million people in California voted for Trump, more than any other US state. Nearly 9 million Californians voted for Hillary so it wasn't close but the number was shocking to me all the same, as is the fact that California in 2016 had more Trump voters than any other state and yet thanks to the EC, their votes weren't decisive in sending him to the WH.



Anyway, it's stuff like this you need to pitch to the Republicans to get on board with getting rid of the EC...and also to remind Dems that going to a full popular vote election is for all voters regardless of party.

The major issue with the popular vote is going to be what happens when you shift from 51 elections with rules determined by local legislatures to one national vote. There would need to be consistency about what third parties are on the ballot, voter registration rules, etc.

One unspoken advantage for people who want more voter participation is that it would encourage all the states to make voting as easy as possible. Right now, legislatures would consider policies that help their party win the state's electoral votes. If there's a national vote, there are more incentives to increase turnout in your state.

There will likely be much greater turnout. Florida has often had more votes than Texas, even with a smaller population, partly because people know their vote matters. Turnout in Texas already exceeds what it was in 2016, and I suspect a big part of that is the understanding that the state is in play.

[shooshoomanjoe]

Slightly unrelated. Vox did a video on the Electoral College. It's a basic 101 explainer thing, but one thing that struck me is that Vox mentioned that in 2016, 4 million people in California voted for Trump, more than any other US state. Nearly 9 million Californians voted for Hillary so it wasn't close but the number was shocking to me all the same, as is the fact that California in 2016 had more Trump voters than any other state and yet thanks to the EC, their votes weren't decisive in sending him to the WH.



Anyway, it's stuff like this you need to pitch to the Republicans to get on board with getting rid of the EC...and also to remind Dems that going to a full popular vote election is for all voters regardless of party.

Even trump is against the electoral college. I remember he tweeted that we have to get rid of it after he stupidly thought Obama won his presidency by the electoral college.

[Jack Dracula]

Sometimes I almost envy Trump supporters. It must be so freeing to be devoid of morality and empathy.

[Amadeus Arkham]

[ChangingStation]

Even trump is against the electoral college. I remember he tweeted that we have to get rid of it after he stupidly thought Obama won his presidency by the electoral college.

I doubt that's true anymore.

[Jack Dracula]

I expect at least 2 more years of trouble stirring Trump Rallies if he loses.

He'll need most of his money for lawyers.

[Gray Lensman]

He'll need most of his money for lawyers.

He'll probably skip paying them just like everybody else.

[PaulBullion]

He'll probably skip paying them just like everybody else.

They can defend him for the exposure.

[WestPhillyPunisher]

If it becomes obvious he has lost beyond any shadow of doubt (please, Thor...!), does anyone think he'll make a congratulatory call to Biden?

Short and sweet....HELL TO THE NO! Among his litany of faults, Trump is a sore loser, I stand a better chance to shacking up with Beyoncé than Biden has of getting a congratulatory call or tweet or anything from Caramel Caligula. Chances are Trump will file lawsuits, even whine to the Supremes, and should all that fail, he might just leave the country in the middle of the night.

Even trump is against the electoral college. I remember he tweeted that we have to get rid of it after he stupidly thought Obama won his presidency by the electoral college.

Trump probably STILL has his panties in a bunch over losing the popular vote to Hillary Clinton, even though the EC put him in the Oval Office.

[Joker]

When your own campaign is pointing to the pretty basic flaws in what you are doing, I tend to see where Joker is coming from about just how much of that you can actually blame on the voters.

I do blame voters. I blame the DNC, too.

I think it's important in a two party system to vote for what you see as the better option. Or, the lesser evil, if you will. But I don't blame voters for feeling like their interests aren't represented by candidates. It is not the fault of the people if a party continually nominates candidates that the younger voters aren't inspired by.

I think that's something the DNC don't really seem to ever grasp. Young people aren't just going to vote against Republicans when the alternative is a party they don't feel represents what they want. Whereas conservatives absolutely will. In part because their party has weaponized their beliefs. But that's another topic.

[PaulBullion]

I do blame voters. I blame the DNC, too.

I think it's important in a two party system to vote for what you see as the better option. Or, the lesser evil, if you will. But I don't blame voters for feeling like their interests aren't represented by candidates. It is not the fault of the people if a party continually nominates candidates that the younger voters aren't inspired by.

I think that's something the DNC don't really seem to ever grasp. Young people aren't just going to vote against Republicans when the alternative is a party they don't feel represents what they want. Whereas conservatives absolutely will. In part because their party has weaponized their beliefs. But that's another topic.

Primaries exist.

[Kirby101]

As far as the EC, this is a fix posted by writer David Brin on Facebook that doesn't need an Amendment,

I’ve offered bunches of ideas for how to get out of trench warfare and ‘judo’ past all the cheating and treason. But this one - passed along by a member of the Contrary Brin blog community - is actually amazing and I’d like feedback whether any of you see lethal flaws. *Simply repeal the Permanent Apportionment Act of 1929, which fixed the number of Representatives at 435, and then institute the Wyoming Rule: the smallest state by population - Wyoming - gets one representative and all other states get a number of representatives equal to the number of "Wyomings" that their population contains.

“The total number of reps in the US House increases from 435 to 573, which also affects the Electoral College. Wyoming still stays at 1 rep while the California delegation increase from 53 to 68. Blue states in general do much better. By matching the number of reps to actual population a lot of the unfairness of the Electoral College AND the House is mitigated. The number of EC votes needed to win the White House increases from 270 to 339.”
Hence this proposal includes not just increasing the size of the House but apportioning so every district has the same number of voters. That is hard to justify opposing. And if it happens, the urban areas get more districts... and so do blue states. And hence more electoral votes. No change to read state advantages in the Senate! And they get their senator-bonus extra electoral votes. That should be enough to mollify.

Simple legislation from a Blue Congress (assuming the filibuster is eliminated) can completely change American politics. And dig this - unlike almost all the other pipe dream proposals, no constitutional amendment is needed.

If it is done right away, it can be part of the normal, decennial re-apportionment.

[Tami]

As far as the EC, this is a fix posted by writer David Brin on Facebook that doesn't need an Amendment,

I found more on this: Why the House of Representatives Must Be Expanded

Edit, and I met David Brin once, briefly, at a Conference Book signing. "for woman of tomorrow" heh

[Mecegirl]

He did it again!! https://www.newsweek.com/logistical-...-rally-1543853

[worstblogever]

The campaign is broke. They don't have money for more shuttles. This will be the story for the next 2 days on super-spreader events.

And the lemmings who support him are dumb enough to keep getting stuck in the cold and walking for miles at the next 4 events.