What If The Pop Vote And The Electoral College Diverge?

[DemocratSinceBirth]

Obama wins the EC and narrowly loses the pop vote. The goobers in their despair pass a Constitutional Amendment to go to a popular vote in upcoming elections. Democrats can then harvest votes in populous areas like L A, Chicago, Philadelphia, Miami, and NYC. The only populous area in which the goobers can harvest votes is Dallas.

Given demographic trends the goobers could never win a national election if we go to a popular vote. They will have huge problems anyway.

[vi5]

1. If this happens...

There is no way the right lets it slide. Forget next election, they will contest it for THIS election.

I would bet any amount of money that they would not and will not sit back and let it go the way the left/Dems did for the most part in 2000. There would be rioting and violence, I have no doubts about that.

[DemocratSinceBirth]

2. A Republican Riot

With a few exceptions they are the softest people in the world.

[slackmaster]

3. Be careful what you wish for. As things stand now, tens of millions of GOP votes in California, NY,

etc. are futile because of the winner-take-all EC rule in those states.

[DemocratSinceBirth]

4. The Latino Vote Is Diluted Because It's Confined To A Few States

If a Democrat can win 80% of them as a Democrat wins African Americans at that rate that's a bonanza for Democrats.

My numbers are rough and off the top of my head. If the non white vote is 30% and the white vote is 70% and a Democrat can get 80% of the non white vote which come out to 24% of the total he only needs to get 33% of the white vote. That would mean whites would have to vote, as say they all lived in Mississippi, for a Republican to win.

[dubyadiprecession]

5. I wouldn't put it past the extremist in the republican party to resort to violence

They were shooting at the whitehouse when Clinton was in office.

[Agnosticsherbet]

6. It didn't happen after Jackson, Tilden, Cleveland, and Gore won the popular vote but lost

in the electoral college to to John Quincy Adams (1824), Rutherford B. Hayes (1876), Benjamin Harrison (1888); and George W. Bush (2000).

To amend the Constitution requires a 2/3rds vote in the House and the Senate, a Presidential signature, and ratification by Three-fourths of the state legislatures;

OR

Two-thirds of the state legislatures ask Congress to call a national Constitutional Convention that is convened to rewrite or amend the Constitution.

If Romney wins the popular vote but loses the Electoral College, the whining will be Epic but the Constitution won't change. Their aren't enough on either side that want to rock the boat in that way. Even if they did, it can not be done quickly or easily.

[DemocratSinceBirth]

7. If I'm A Democratic Legislator At The Federal Or State Level I Would Let Them Do It

They would be writing their own obituary for the reasons I stated. They are already facing an unbelievably stiff demographic headwind. The move to a pop vote would only exacerbate it.

[Agnosticsherbet]

9. I think it should be done. But the states won't allow it.

A strict popular vote changes the focus of elections from small small states to large population states where they get more bang for their buck. The ten most populous states have a third of the U.S. population.

Why go to New Hampshire, Iowa, or Nevada at all if they can go to California, Florida, or Texas. The top ten states in population have 1/3rd of the U.S. population. Many states vote reliably for one party, which will not change. They will go to the big states and spend their money there.

Parties know and understand how the system works, and accept its weaknesses in exchange for its ease of manipulation.

Back in 2000 and 2001, we called for a change. It did not happen because it is hard, the parties don't want it, and people forget. It won't happen this time, either.

[Retrograde]

8. I don't think the EC will be abolished, but there will be calls for modification

I can see calls for portioning the electoral votes among the candidates, either by congressional district or proportion of the popular vote. So if California, say, goes 60/40 Dem/Rep the Republican candidate would almost a third of the electoral votes from that state.

If all the states went this way, maybe it would be fairer, but given the current state of the Republican party I'd expect them to push this only in the traditionally Democratic-voting states while keeping the whole electoral vote in the Republican-leaning ones for themselves.

[Nye Bevan]

10. No way would 75% of the states ratify such an amendment (nt)