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Tag: Massachusetts

The District Method - History and Explanation

By Kevin Rex Heine, Section News
Posted on Mon Jan 21, 2013 at 02:20:27 PM EST
Tags: 2012 Presidential Election (by congressional district), Electoral College, 3 USC § 1 & 7, quadrennial presidential elections, states vs. people balance, small states vs. large states balance, popular support vs. distributed support, U. S. Constitution Article 2 § 1 clauses 2 thru 4, U. S. Constitution Amendment XII, original intention, Congressional District Method, Maine, Nebraska, Pennsylvania (pending), Ohio (pending), Virginia (pending), Wisconsin (pending), Michigan (pending), Florida (pending), potentially North Carolina and Nevada, National Popular Vote is constitutionally irrelevant, Maryland (wants out), New Jersey (wants out), Illinois, Hawaii, Washington, Massachusetts, District of Columbia, Vermont, California, New York (not interested), Pennsylvania (not interested), Guarantee Clause, U. S. Constitution Article 4 § 4 clause 1, Massachusetts Variant, Maine Variant, New York Variant, Virginia Variant, Electoral District Method, Tennessee Variant (all tags)

You may have heard of the National Popular Vote Interstate Compact, an initiative being advanced by a Soros-funded group that intends to bypass the Constitution and obviate the Electoral College, handing the quadrennial presidential elections to whomever wins the plurality of the nationwide popular vote. This article isn't the place to go into the details of the initiative (the link provides a usable starting point for further research), but suffice it that triggering the compact will realize something that has been a strategic objective of the progressives for quite some time.

However, America is not a democracy; rather, the United States are a republic. And that distinction isn't one of mere semantics. In a republic, the voice of the people is more indirect the more non-local the matter is. When it comes to elections, I can think of none more non-local than the presidential election. Among the checks and balances the Founding Fathers included in the Constitution was the balance of the voice of the people with the voice of the states, thus the use of the Electoral College to elect the president every four years.

(8 comments, 1832 words in story) Full Story

The NPVIC Will Rear It's Head . . . Again

By Kevin Rex Heine, Section News
Posted on Mon Dec 17, 2012 at 11:53:30 PM EST
Tags: Electoral College, 3 USC § 1 & 7, quadrennial presidential elections, states vs. people balance, small states vs. large states balance, popular support vs. distributed support, U. S. Constitution Article 2 § 1 clauses 2 thru 4, U. S. Constitution Amendment XII, original intention, Massachusetts Method, Maine, Nebraska, Pennsylvania (pending), Ohio (pending), Virginia (pending), Wisconsin (pending), Michigan (pending), Florida (pending), potentially North Carolina, National Popular Vote is constitutionally irrelevant, Maryland (wants out), New Jersey (wants out), Illinois, Hawaii, Washington, Massachusetts, District of Columbia, Vermont, California, New York (not interested), Pennsylvania (not interested) (all tags)

Today, for those paying attention, was a very important day in the timeline of the 2012 Presidential Election. Today, on the first Monday following the second Wednesday of December, at such place and time as determined by the local legislature, the duly appointed and elected Presidential Electors met in their respective jurisdictions and cast their votes for President and Vice President of the United States - at least one of whom must not reside in the same jurisdiction as they do. Though the 51 jurisdictions do not appear to have reported yet, 27 of them are expected to cast their votes one way, and 24 of them are expected to cast their votes the other way.

And yet, for the past 41 days, perhaps because even as recently as the day before Election Day eleven states (at a total of 146 electoral votes) were considered to be in the "tossup" column, there has been considerable behind-the-scenes debate about a potential "reform" to the way that some states apportion their electoral votes, a reform that, had it been in place during this election, may have significantly impacted the outcome. Actually, instead of "reform" I should be referring to this as a "back to the basics" approach to the Electoral College.

(1949 words in story) Full Story

A Message To Our Legislators - Beware False Choices

Busses Have Consequences

By Kevin Rex Heine, Section News
Posted on Sat Nov 24, 2012 at 03:43:18 PM EST
Tags: Rick Perry, Rick Santorum, Newt Gingrich, Ron Paul, Colorado, Florida, Iowa, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Virginia, Washington, Wisconsin, scorched earth tactics, Barry Goldwater, Pat Buchanan, Reagan's Eleventh Commandment (all tags)

I remember well a certain story told about Chuck Yob and the 1992 Republican National Convention. During the 1992 Republican Presidential Primary Campaign, Pat Buchanan had finished better than expected in state primaries (frequently a strong second), even though President Bush, sr., had won every single statewide contest. Nevertheless, Buchanan's campaign wanted to use their "victories" as a reason to exert some influence over the national platform, obtain some delegate seats, and receive a few favorable speaking slots.

That year, Yob was the chairman of the credentials committee, and during one of their meetings was invited into a side room into a conference with Rich Bond (then the RNC Chairman) and President Bush. Bay Buchanan, Pat Buchanan's sister and campaign manager, was expected to be making an appearance at the meeting, and the president had some instructions for what he thought needed to be done.

What Bush wanted Yob to do was to let Buchanan lay out her entire case, put all her cards on the table. After that, he was to spend the next 5 hours picking apart all of her arguments, and keep her in that room arguing her case for the rest of the afternoon. And then, at 4 o'clock, he was to give up and let Buchanan have whatever she was still asking for. She'd take the story back to her people that they'd fought all day with the establishment, and at least got them to give ground on what really mattered. The story that would go back to the Bush supporters that they'd negotiated all day with the challenger's team, and finally given them their way on some positions that really didn't matter . . . for the good of the party.

I think that there is a lesson taught here that really should have been applied to the 2012 Republican Presidential Primary Campaign . . . and the 2012 Republican National Convention (especially when viewed in light of the 1964 campaign).