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Celerity

(43,760 posts) Thu Sep 24, 2020, 10:15 PM Sep 2020

Fighting Back Against Trump's New Plot To Steal The Electoral College

This week we learned about another plot by the president’s re-election campaign to cheat on November 3rd. We need to fight back, hard.

https://thebanter.substack.com/p/fighting-back-against-trumps-new

WASHINGTON, DC -- On the surface, Donald Trump and Mitch McConnell are very different people. One is a screeching illustration of the Dunning-Kruger Effect, while the other is a slimy career politician. But they’re both driven by the same Cobra Kai-inspired mantra: strike first, strike hard, no mercy. They’re each applying this win-at-any-cost strategy in different venues but with the same goal. Trump wants to retain power indefinitely, and McConnell wants his party to retain power indefinitely, and they’re willing to exploit every means at their disposal -- in the parlance of hunting, they’re each using every part of the animal. This week we learned about another plot by the president’s re-election campaign to cheat on November 3rd, this time by rigging the Electoral College to once again sidestep not just the popular vote, but the electoral vote as well. According to reporter Barton Gellman, writing for The Atlantic, the Trump campaign is plotting with Republican legislatures to employ what is known as “loyal electors” who will cast their ballots for Trump irrespective of the popular vote in their respective states.

“With a justification based on claims of rampant fraud, Trump would ask state legislators to set aside the popular vote and exercise their power to choose a slate of electors directly. The longer Trump succeeds in keeping the vote count in doubt, the more pressure legislators will feel to act before the safe-harbor deadline expires.” “In Pennsylvania, three Republican leaders told me they had already discussed the direct appointment of electors among themselves, and one said he had discussed it with Trump’s national campaign.”

From what I understand about this process, however, it would only be effective in an extremely close race where the vote-counting pushes closer and closer to December 8, when the 538 electors are chosen, and to December 14, when the electors cast their ballots. The pressure of ascertaining the will of the people could force Republican legislatures to move forward with Trump’s gambit. This won’t happen everywhere. Governors have to certify their state’s electoral votes before submitting to the Senate where, on January 6, the electoral votes are tabulated. Therefore, this can only work in swing states where the race is close and where the Republicans enjoy trifecta control over both chambers of the legislature and the governor’s mansion. The following swing states have GOP trifectas: Ohio, Georgia, Florida, Iowa, and Arizona. I’d keep my eye on Ohio and Florida, with Arizona as a possibility, too. Remember: Trump might only need to flip one state to win, depending on the results. However, if Biden enjoys a strong lead on Election Night, it might dull or even eliminate the loyal-electors plot. Not that we can do anything about it at this late stage, but this entire scam would’ve been negated by the National Popular Vote Interstate Compact legislation, passed by 16 states so far, in which a state’s electoral votes are automatically awarded to the winner of the national popular vote.

Colorado is the only “swing state” that’s signed on to the compact, and Colorado is barely a swing state anymore. To be abundantly clear, while this is scary as hell, many factors have to fall into place for it to work. And there are only a few states in which there’s daylight for Trump. That said, the Hemingway “Old Man And The Sea” metaphor continues to worry me: the notion that Joe Biden’s lead in the polls is slowly being eaten away by sharks. Specifically, Trump has many irons in the election-theft fire. There’s already the question of Russia interference. There are voter purges, voter ID laws, and other forms of disenfranchisement thanks to the gutting of the Voting Rights Act. There’s the elimination of the 1982 court ruling preventing Republicans from intimidating poll workers, prompting the recruitment of 50,000 Trumpers to challenge the vote counting. There’s Trump’s sabotage of the Postal Service, which gratefully seems to have blunted by a recent federal court ruling. There’s the possibility that Trump will use the courts to throw out absentee ballots wherever necessary to rig the Electoral College. And, of course, there will be plots we haven’t considered yet. So, add all of this to your list of things to worry about.

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