It doesn’t matter whether you win or lose…
It’s how you play the game… And how the game is played has all changed, in presidential politics, since Donald Trump threw his hat in the ring.
There has been a fire-hose dose of political news over the past three weeks, enough to make your head spin. There was a presidential candidate debate, with a bunch of lies on both sides and some slack-jawed, incoherent responses from the President. Then we had an attempted assassination of Mr. Trump and his fortunate survival despite the unbelievable screw-ups of his protection detail that were subsequently revealed.
The Republican convention and the addition of JD Vance to the Republican ticket followed, and shortly thereafter Joe Biden withdrew from the campaign.
Kamala Harris assumed the top spot on the ticket, quickly gaining sufficient support to effectively eliminate any potential competition. Harris chose Minnesota Governor, Tim Walz, as her running mate.
In three+ weeks, the Harris campaign has sparked a huge uptick of enthusiasm, has pulled even or ahead in most polling results, and has raised well over $300 million in campaign contributions. Then Democrats called Republicans “weird” and Republicans responded with the equivalent of “Oh yeah? You’re weird.”
Whew!! Let’s catch our breath. Lots of news, but none of that may matter in November.
Donald Trump, going back to a tactic he has used in each of his elections, whether winning or losing, has already accused Democrats of committing “election interference,” which in his eyes, and in the eyes of his “base,” makes any Harris victory illegitimate. A Trump defeat in November, whether close or not, needs to be contested and can never be accepted.
Trump’s base seems incapable of believing any shortcoming from their leader, so any case against him, including convictions of sexual assault and business fraud, are all viewed as a weaponized justice department attempting to keep Trump from a return to the White House.
Republicans are not just claiming a rigged election; they are being pro-active, taking steps to suppress votes in Democrat-leaning districts, and fighting to limit mail-in voting, which typically leans Democratic. There are other legal efforts in the works.
Doesn’t it seem like we should encourage people to vote? And if you can’t win, maybe you should adopt policies that will persuade voters to support your side?
But let’s not kid ourselves. The most likely scenario in a Trump loss this November, is the same playbook that was tried in 2020. Find one member of the House and one in the Senate to challenge election results for a few states your candidate lost, and then get the Electoral College votes of those states to remain uncounted.
If no one gets 270 electoral votes, because some states are thrown out, the House of Representatives will poll each state’s delegation, each getting one vote. Twenty-eight states have Republican majority delegations today.
Ballotpedia explains exactly how it works:
Specifically, during the session one member of the U.S. House and one member of the U.S. Senate must submit a written objection after the body reads the vote count from a particular state.
Once a House member and Senator submit an objection, the two chambers of Congress separate to debate for two hours and to vote on whether to continue counting the votes in light of the objection. Both chambers must vote by a simple majority to concur with the objection for it to stand, otherwise the objection fails.
If both chambers of Congress affirm the objection and the objection results in no one candidate receiving the necessary 270-vote Electoral College majority, the 12th Amendment dictates a congressional process for selecting a president and vice president. The House of Representatives votes to elect the new president. As a bloc, members of the House cast one vote per state, choosing between the three candidates who received the most Electoral College votes. The Senate votes to elect the Vice President, casting one vote per senator.
Imagine this process if one party were to control both houses of Congress. The founding fathers left a huge loophole here and the utilization of it, which appeared to be an afterthought when attempted in 2020, seems much more planned for 2024.
At the Republican Convention, Trump campaign co-manager Chris LaCivita noted that “It’s not over until he puts his hand on the Bible and takes the oath. It’s not over until then. It’s not over on Election Day, it’s over on Inauguration Day, cause I wouldn’t put anything past anybody.”
So, if Trump loses the Electoral College vote, and he certainly seems unconcerned about that potential result, Trump sycophants in Congress can turn to this founding-fathers loophole, and if it works, 150 million American votes will not matter. The outcome will be decided by people with a less-than-20-percent approval rating, no matter the popular vote, no matter the Electoral College result, no matter your vote, no matter my vote.
Those that fail to learn from history are doomed to repeat it.
Curt MacRae is a resident of Coldwater, MI, and publishes opinion columns regularly.
Tweets @curtmacrae — comments to rantsbymac@gmail.com
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