If only.....

[moonshaz]

Trump warns Electoral College lawsuit could undermine his electionDonald Trump is warning that a Colorado lawsuit brought by two Democratic members of the Electoral College could harm his bid to become president

Comments

[meadowphoenix]

The suit, brought by Colorado electors Polly Baca and Robert Nemanich, is intended to overturn a state law that forces them to support the statewide popular vote winner when the Electoral College convenes to pick the president on Dec. 19
I mean, it's sorta dicta, but SCOTUS has already admitted that all such laws are unconstitutional, considering the electors purpose was subvert majority stupidity. So....

Baca and Nemanich are leaders in a group called “Hamilton Electors” that is working to convince dozens of Republican electors around the country to unite behind a mainstream GOP alternative to Trump
Again, this is useless Rep signifying. All the praise for "standing up" to Donald with none of the actual work of removing Donald. No thanks.

[lollycunt]

Do you think there is any path to removing Trump?

[meadowphoenix]

Sure get HRC to 270. Anything other than that, including switch votes from Trump to some other GOP, is useless grandstanding, unless they know they have enough Rep in the House, which lol.

[lollycunt]

I'm not sure how that would happen, though. No matter how much some of these electors probably hate Trump, they won't vote for a democrat instead.

[meadowphoenix]

I know, and whatever, but don't be out here pretending you're being useful either, imo.

[lollycunt]

Totally fair. I was just grasping for blind hope that someone could stop this.

[elenbarathi]

So how useful is it to just roll over and show throat, then?

Cynicism is a wonderful device for protecting oneself from having to do any work. It's also handy for discouraging other people from doing any work: "You'll just fail; it's just grandstanding; how stupid you were to think there was any hope!" If nobody succeeds, then the cynic is vindicated: "See, I told you it was useless to try."

What you're failing to grasp is the principle of resistance. It's not about the short-term win-or-lose. It's about the long game. What you sneer at as 'signifying' could be less perjoratively framed as messaging: Resistance is not futile. Resistance will not cease. We will never accept Trump as President. We will keep all our legislators phones ringing, every damn day, in the effort to stop his inauguration. If he is inaugurated, we will keep them ringing, every damn day, in the effort to block his pernicious actions, and those of his 'Cabinet of Dr. Caligari

[meadowphoenix]

Lmao, do you think these republican electors are showing throat? This isn't cynicism, this is understanding what these people are getting out of a situation that they know they have the power to change but won't. They ~believe Trump is too dangerous to vote for but won't vote to do something that would actually remove him? They don't get to pretend they're doing something significant or rebellious. I don't have time for people who won't follow through practically on their supposed principles.

Try somebody else, k?

[elenbarathi]

Sorry; I can see your time must really be at a premium, with all those TV programs to keep up with. I'll try someone more mature.

[meadowphoenix]

Oh, I see you've mistaken me for someone you know. How embarrassing.

[hudebnik]

Switching votes from Trump to some other Republican could actually change things, because I think there are a substantial number of Republicans in the House who would be happy to elect a Republican other than Trump. (More in the Senate, of course, but that's not relevant here

[meadowphoenix]

I think that's a step too far for the devoted, lifelong Republicans who run for elector in red states.
If it's a step too far, then they need to stop pretending they think Trump is very dangerous. The safest and most definitive way to get him out is to vote for her. Hedging their bets means they don't think the risk of a Trump president is too much. Remember, this party couldn't find a opposition to coaslesce behind during the primaries. And if they can't get close enough to 220 for some democrats to cross, the House Republican's most self-serving decision would be to definitively vote for Trump or HRC will win by majority. The risk for a Trump presidency is still very high.

House Dem's most self-serving decision would be to continue to vote for HRC, since the 12th amendment just requires a majority and does not rule out a plurality. They'd just need 48 House Rep to not vote for Trump.

[hudebnik]

When the Electoral College fails to produce a majority and sends things to the House, the House votes under weird rules that give each state's delegation one vote. There are therefore 50 votes, and you need 26 to win. Something like 35 states have majority-Republican House delegations, and several more have split delegations, so if they decided to elect Trump it would be a cake-walk.

If the Electoral College cast a bunch of votes for a saner Republican, the House could elect that person, but they would face voter backlash for electing a person who wasn't even in the Presidential election. (Some possibilities: Paul Ryan, Mitt Romney, Marco Rubio, Mike Pence.) It might be worth while for Democrats in the House to vote for said saner Republican, to provide political cover for Republicans to do the same. The House is certainly not going to elect HRC, so that deal wouldn't cost much.

[meadowphoenix]

Yeah, I def misinterpreted the quorum part. But then it's def cowardly to throw it to the House. The Democrats still have an incentive to prevent a quorum until there is a definite choice (although they don't take up incentives very well). And the Republicans have an incentive to just elect Trump.

[ilouboutin]

I've gotten my hopes up too many times clicking links about the electors only to read "They're not looking to elect HRC" or "They are considering voting for another republican."

[meadowphoenix]

Right, these people don't really believe in his dangerousness if they can justify passing the buck to the House.