Electors vote today....will Trump be "unpresidented"?

[Omni]

3 minutes ago, JamesHackerMP said:

Right.  (Thought it was Jan 4? They do it the day after the new Congress convenes?)

Congress will meet in joint session Jan 6 to count the votes with Joe Biden presiding.

[-TSS-]

Speculation about this is fun but I'd say that with 99% certainty they'll vote for Trump. Some electiors may defect but 37? No way!

You can say with 100% certainty that Hillary won't be elected. The Republicans are not going to give up their election-victory. If they dump Trump they'll vote for another Republican instead.

[JamesHackerMP]

1 minute ago, -TSS- said:

Speculation about this is fun but I'd say that with 99% certainty they'll vote for Trump. Some electiors may defect but 37? No way!

You can say with 100% certainty that Hillary won't be elected. The Republicans are not going to give up their election-victory. If they dump Trump they'll vote for another Republican instead.

That's what the TX and WA electors said they were going to do.

[JamesHackerMP]

In all seriousness, I think what will happen is that a bunch of them will defect, not enough however.  It will at least make Donald Trump look worse, and take away what little political capital he is going to have left.

[?Impact]

There have been 157 faithless electors in previous Presidential elections, those that did not record their vote according to the outcome of the general election. The most in a single election was 63 in 1872 when Horace Greeley died between the November election and the Electoral College meetings to vote. The most recent was in 2004 when an anonymous (rules are set at the State level so some can be anonymous) elector voted for John Kerry's running mate for both Vice President and also President. As nobody stepped up, and obviously it had no bearing on the outcome of the election, speculation it was a mistake. There have been a few abstentions, or voting for another in the same party, the last time an elector actually switched parties was 1972 when Roger MacBride a Republican from Virginia voted Libertarian instead. 

[Guest]

13 minutes ago, JamesHackerMP said:

In all seriousness, I think what will happen is that a bunch of them will defect, not enough however.  It will at least make Donald Trump look worse, and take away what little political capital he is going to have left.

I don't think Donald Trump cares about political capital.  I think he genuinely believes that in four years time, the American populace will be staring in awe at him and wondering how could they have been so wrong, and how he is the best President there has ever been!

[Moonlight Graham]

1 hour ago, Argus said:

 

Looks to me like they would simply be fulfilling their mandate.

/Although the Founding Fathers wanted the people to have a say, there was concern that a charismatic tyrant could manipulate public opinion and come into power. Alexander Hamilton briefly addressed these concerns in the Federalist Papers. The idea was that the electors would be a group of people who would ensure that a qualified person would become president.

https://www.reference.com/government-politics/purpose-electoral-college-c9f12a8548d434ee#

Sounds like tyranny to me if the people don't get their say but a bunch of asshat elites go against the popular will in an election.  People could argue Barack Obama or Bill Clinton or JFK was "a charismatic tyrant who could manipulate public opinion and come into power".

Also, Alexander Hamilton was a jerk.

[Guest]

Just now, Moonlight Graham said:

Sounds like tyranny to me if the people don't get their say but a bunch of asshat elites go against the popular will in an election.  People could argue Barack Obama or Bill Clinton or JFK was "a charismatic tyrant who could manipulate public opinion and come into power".

Also, Alexander Hamilton was a jerk.

Well, the whole point of the EC is to make the "popular will" redundant.  If it wasn't, Hillary would be in.

[-TSS-]

That is what primaries are for that people who are not fit to be President drop out. It's a bit too late to discover someone is either lunatic or incompetent if that person has won the election.

[Omni]

56 minutes ago, -TSS- said:

Speculation about this is fun but I'd say that with 99% certainty they'll vote for Trump. Some electiors may defect but 37? No way!

You can say with 100% certainty that Hillary won't be elected. The Republicans are not going to give up their election-victory. If they dump Trump they'll vote for another Republican instead.

One possibility is that Hillary could try to convince her EC supporters to vote for a Republican, just not Trump.

[bush_cheney2004]

34 minutes ago, Omni said:

One possibility is that Hillary could try to convince her EC supporters to vote for a Republican, just not Trump.

 

This is not a possibility.  

In my (blue) state, one elector refused to vote for Hillary Clinton.   The elector was replaced with someone who did.

Edited December 19, 2016 by bush_cheney2004

[Omni]

11 minutes ago, bush_cheney2004 said:

 

This is not a possibility.  

In my (blue) state, one elector refused to vote for Hillary Clinton.   The elector was replaced with someone who did.

Aparently all states don't work like yours. It's not likely but not impossible.

[bush_cheney2004]

Just now, Omni said:

Aparently all states don't work like yours. It's not likely but not impossible.

 

It is not likely and not a possibility.    Such is the stuff of deniers who cannot accept reality.

[Omni]

Just now, bush_cheney2004 said:

 

It is not likely and not a possibility.    Such is the stuff of deniers who cannot accept reality.

Reality in this case will be known Jan. 6.

[bush_cheney2004]

1 minute ago, Omni said:

Reality in this case will be known Jan. 6.

 

Yes...keep moving that date forward...just like the date that Trump would never be nominated by the GOP.

[cybercoma]

3 hours ago, Boges said:

If the election is overturned you'd see a legit civil war break out in the states. 

Good. Maybe the most extreme of the bunch will kill each other.

[Omni]

15 minutes ago, bush_cheney2004 said:

 

Yes...keep moving that date forward...just like the date that Trump would never be nominated by the GOP.

No I think the date is fixed. Not unlike the election.

[?Impact]

There is some breaking of ranks four members of the Electoral College in Washington state cast their votes for a candidate other than Clinton, the statewide popular vote winner. Earlier an elector in Maine voted for Bernie Sanders, but it was ruled improper and he since switched to Clinton.

 

[Omni]

14 minutes ago, ?Impact said:

There is some breaking of ranks four members of the Electoral College in Washington state cast their votes for a candidate other than Clinton, the statewide popular vote winner. Earlier an elector in Maine voted for Bernie Sanders, but it was ruled improper and he since switched to Clinton.

 

And the plot thickens. I wonder if the Wa. folks went for a Republican. And I don't mean Trump.

[?Impact]

It looks like there are two protest votes in Texas against Trump, but he has now passed the threshold to be elected. Of course nothing is official until January, but anyone that was hoping for an upset should now top holding their breath. 

[bush_cheney2004]

9 minutes ago, ?Impact said:

It looks like there are two protest votes in Texas against Trump, but he has now passed the threshold to be elected. Of course nothing is official until January, but anyone that was hoping for an upset should now top holding their breath. 

 

They shouldn't have hoped or believed in such a silly notion to begin with.   The five stages of grief pass slowly for some.  Reality doesn't care.

[Guest]

I just never thought they would cave to the Russians so easily.

[sharkman]

He's in!! Congrats everybody!

[bush_cheney2004]

Gee...I wonder what happened to all the cries from the Alt-Left, Hollywood, and Clinton's wounded whiners ?

Didn't the EC electors feel their pain and anguished calls to save them from Donald Trump ?

How could their pleas be denied ?   Oh the humanity !!

[Guest]

Looks like it's back to doing a Sudoku while watching Murdoch Mysteries.